Summary
The convention governing occupied populations which, in The Political Economy of Israeli Occupation: What is Colonial about It?, applied to the West Bank and Gaza Strip (UNSCR 237, June 1967), so that Israel was not allowed to change the demographic, political or economic structure of the land under its control — the legal standard against which the article measures settlements, land expropriation and the transfer of Israeli citizens into the territories (The Political Economy of Israeli Occupation: What is Colonial about It?, PDF p.3-5).
Details
- Israel accepted only the principle of the Convention in its humanitarian dimension; the international community refused Israel’s interpretations, most recently in the July 2004 ICJ ruling against the separation wall (PDF p.3).
- Under the Convention the military was the only entity allowed to rule the occupied population until its status was determined, with a mandate for security but not for changing the area’s demographic or territorial character (PDF p.4).
- Settlements and the transfer of 400,000 Israeli citizens into the territories between 1972 and 2003 were illegal under the Convention, as was allowing Israeli citizens to live and work in the West Bank after 1987; nothing in the Oslo Accords gives Palestinians legal or political measures to stop the expropriation the Convention forbids (PDF p.5, p.7).
Related pages
The Political Economy of Israeli Occupation: What is Colonial about It?, UN Security Council Resolution 242, International Court of Justice, Separation wall