\u00a0\u201cThis\u00a0is yet another step by the Israeli authorities towards rendering a viable Palestinian State impossible, in violation of the Palestinian people\u2019s right to self-determination,\u201d\u00a0he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He warned that if\u00a0implemented, the\u00a0decisions\u00a0\u201cwill undoubtedly accelerate the dispossession of Palestinians and their forcible transfer, and\u00a0lead to the creation of more illegal Israeli settlements.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This\u00a0in turn \u201cwill also further deprive Palestinians of their natural resources and restrict their enjoyment of other human rights.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Acquiring\u00a0more land\u00a0<\/p>\n
On 8 February, the\u00a0Israeli security cabinet approved a package of measures that would\u00a0increase\u00a0Israeli civilian authority in\u00a0Areas A and B of the West Bank, which\u00a0together constitute roughly\u00a040 per cent of the territory.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some\u00a0of these powers fall under the competence of the Palestinian Authority, according to the Oslo\u00a0Accords \u2013 twin peace agreements signed by Israeli and Palestinian leadership in the 1990s.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The measures would\u00a0change the law to allow Israeli authorities and individuals to\u00a0acquire\u00a0land in\u00a0Areas A and B,\u00a0violating\u00a0the law of occupation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will further cement Israel’s control and integration of the occupied West Bank into Israel, consolidating unlawful annexation,\u201d\u00a0Mr.\u00a0T\u00fcrk said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cultural rights\u00a0violated\u00a0<\/p>\n
The decisions\u00a0also strip the Palestinian Authority of its planning and building powers\u00a0in parts of Hebron\u00a0in the southern part of the West Bank, including the Ibrahimi Mosque\u00a0\u2013\u00a0known to Jews as the\u00a0Cave of the Patriarchs\u00a0and a holy site for Islam, Judaism and Christianity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Israel\u00a0would also\u00a0establish\u00a0administrative control over\u00a0another holy site,\u00a0Rachel\u2019s Tomb in Bethlehem,\u00a0to accelerate settlement expansion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThis not only violates the land rights of Palestinians, but also their cultural rights in respect of sites of particular significance,\u201d the rights chief said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Decisions must be overturned\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr.\u00a0T\u00fcrk\u00a0noted that\u00a0the new\u00a0measures come amid a wider context of increasing attacks by Israeli settlers and security forces against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, forcible transfers, evictions, home demolitions, land grabs, and movement restrictions, among other\u00a0documented\u00a0violations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are witnessing rapid steps to change permanently the demography of the occupied Palestinian territory, stripping its people of their lands and forcing them to leave,\u201d\u00a0he\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThis is supported by rhetoric and actions by senior Israeli\u00a0officials and\u00a0violates Israel\u2019s obligation as an occupying power to preserve the existing legal order and social fabric. These decisions must be overturned.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He concluded by calling for\u00a0all\u00a0settlements\u00a0to be evacuated\u00a0and the Israeli\u00a0occupation\u00a0to end now.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0\u201cThis\u00a0is yet another step by the Israeli authorities towards rendering a viable Palestinian State impossible, in violation of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-286339","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}