UN rights office warns Israeli settlement plan violates international law

International Law Denounces Israeli Settlement Expansion

U.N. Rights Office Calls New Housing Project a War Crime

The United Nations Human Rights Office declared on Friday that an Israeli initiative to construct thousands of homes between an existing West Bank settlement and areas adjacent to East Jerusalem violates international law. The project would create isolated enclaves and subject local Palestinians to the threat of forced eviction, a move the U.N. described as a war crime.

Political Backdrop

• Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich pledged to continue the delayed settlement program, asserting it would “bury” the prospect of a Palestinian state.
• Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980—a measure not recognized by most countries—and has not formally extended sovereignty over the West Bank.
• Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Global Consensus on Settlements

The majority of world powers argue that expanding settlements erodes the feasibility of a two‑state solution by fragmenting the territory Palestinians seek for an independent future. A two‑state construct envisions a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza existing alongside Israel, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israeli Position

Israel cites historic and biblical connections to the region and claims settlements provide strategic depth and security. It labels the West Bank as “disputed” rather than “occupied.”