Israel's Actions: International Law Violation Or Self-Defense?

Israel's settlement policy has been a subject of debate for decades, with critics arguing that it violates international law and others claiming it is legal. The Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the transfer of an occupying power's civilian population into occupied territory, is often cited as a key legal document in this debate. Israel's settlement activities in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights are widely considered illegal under international law and have been condemned by the United Nations Security Council, the International Court of Justice, and other international bodies. However, Israel disputes the illegality of its settlements and claims that its citizens were not forcibly transferred to these territories. The debate surrounding Israel's settlement policy is complex and has significant implications for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the broader Middle East region.

Israel's settlement policy

Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are civilian communities built by Israel on lands that it has militarily occupied since the Six-Day War in 1967. These settlements are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Jewish identity or ethnicity. The expansion of settlements often involves the confiscation of Palestinian land and resources, leading to the displacement of Palestinian communities and creating a source of tension and conflict. Settlements are often protected by the Israeli military and are frequently flashpoints for violence against Palestinians.

The Fourth Geneva Convention states that "the Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies", and prohibits the "individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory". The extensive appropriation of land and the appropriation and destruction of property required to build and expand settlements breach other rules of international humanitarian law.

The Israeli government maintains that some settlements are legitimate as they took shape when there was no operative diplomatic arrangement, and thus they did not violate any agreement. It also argues that its settlement policy is consistent with international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, while recognising that some settlements have been constructed illegally on private land.

The United Nations Security Council has reaffirmed that Israel's establishment of settlements in occupied Palestinian territory has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law. The Council has called on Israel to immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Most states and international bodies have long recognised that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The European Union (EU) has stated that "settlement building anywhere in the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, is illegal under international law, constitutes an obstacle to peace and threatens to make a two-state solution impossible."

The illegality of Israeli settlements was affirmed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2024, which ruled that Israel's occupation was illegal and that it had an obligation to "cease immediately all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers" from the occupied territories.

Violations of human rights

Israel's settlement policy is one of the main driving forces behind mass human rights violations resulting from the occupation. These include:

Violations of the right to life

Israeli soldiers, police, and security guards have unlawfully killed and injured many Palestinian civilians in the OPT, including during protests against the confiscation of land and the construction of settlements. UN agencies and fact-finding missions have also expressed concern about violence perpetrated by a minority of Israeli settlers aimed at intimidating Palestinian populations.

Violations of the rights to liberty, security of the person and equal treatment before the law

Amnesty International has documented how Palestinians in the OPT are routinely subjected to arbitrary detention, including through administrative detention. Whereas settlers are subject to Israeli civil and criminal law, Palestinians are subject to a military court system which falls short of international standards for the fair conduct of trials and administration of justice.

Violations of the right to access an effective remedy for acts violating fundamental rights

Israel's failure to adequately investigate and enforce the law for acts of violence against Palestinians, together with the multiple legal, financial and procedural barriers faced by Palestinians in accessing the court system, severely limit Palestinians' ability to seek legal redress. The Israeli High Court of Justice has failed to rule on the legality of settlements, as it considered the settlements to be a political issue that it is not competent to hear.

Violations of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly

Amnesty International has documented Israel's use of military orders to prohibit peaceful protest and criminalize freedom of expression in the West Bank. Israeli forces have used tear gas, rubber bullets, and occasionally live rounds to suppress peaceful protests.

Violations of the rights to equality and non-discrimination

Systematic discrimination against Palestinians is inherent in virtually all aspects of Israel's administration of the OPT. Palestinians are also specifically targeted for a range of actions that constitute human rights violations. The Israeli government allows settlers to exploit land and natural resources that belong to Palestinians. Israel provides preferential treatment to Israeli businesses operating in the OPT while putting up barriers to, or simply blocking, Palestinian ones. Israeli citizens receive entitlements, and Palestinians face restrictions on the grounds of nationality, ethnicity, and religion, in contravention of international standards.

Violations of the right to adequate housing

Since 1967, Israel has constructed tens of thousands of homes on Palestinian land to accommodate settlers while, at the same time, demolishing an estimated 50,000 Palestinian homes and other structures, such as farm buildings and water tanks. Israel also carries out demolitions as a form of collective punishment against the families of individuals accused of attacks on Israelis.

Violations of the right to freedom of movement

Many restrictions on freedom of movement for Palestinian residents are directly linked to the settlements, including restrictions aimed at protecting the settlements and maintaining "buffer zones". Restrictions include checkpoints, settler-only roads, and physical impediments created by walls and gates.

Violations of the rights of the child

Every year, 500-700 Palestinian children from the occupied West Bank are prosecuted in Israeli juvenile military courts under Israeli military orders. They are often arrested in night raids and systematically ill-treated. Some of these children serve their sentences within Israel, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The UN has also documented that many children have been killed or injured in settler attacks.

Violations of the right to enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health

Restrictions on movement limit Palestinians' access to healthcare. Specialists working with Palestinian populations have also documented a range of serious mental health conditions that stem from exposure to violence and abuse in the OPT.

Violations of the right to water

Most Palestinian communities in Area C are not connected to the water network and are prevented from repairing or constructing wells or water cisterns that hold rainwater. Water consumption in some Area C communities is reported by the UN to be 20% of the minimum recommended standard. Israel's failure to ensure Palestinian residents have a sufficient supply of clean, safe water for drinking and other domestic uses constitutes a violation of its obligations to respect and fulfill the right to water.

Violations of the right to education

Palestinian students face numerous obstacles in accessing education, including forced displacement, demolitions, restrictions on movement, and a shortage of school places. An independent fact-finding mission in 2012 noted an "upward trend" of cases of settler attacks on Palestinian schools and harassment of Palestinian children on their way to and from school. Such problems can result in children not attending school and in a deterioration in the quality of learning.

Violations of the right to earn a decent living through work

The expansion of settlements has reduced the amount of land available to Palestinians for herding and agriculture, increasing the dependency of rural communities on humanitarian assistance. Settler violence and the destruction of Palestinian-owned crops and olive trees have damaged the livelihoods of farmers. The UN has reported that in Hebron city center, the Israeli military has forced 512 Palestinian businesses to close, while more than 1,000 others have shut down due to restricted access for customers and suppliers.

War crimes

During the 1948 Palestine War, around 700,000 Palestinian Arabs, or 85% of the total population of the territory captured by Israel, were expelled or fled from their homes. Historians attribute this exodus to direct expulsions by Israeli forces, destruction of Arab villages, psychological warfare, dozens of massacres, crop burning, water deprivation, and typhoid epidemics caused by Israeli well-poisoning. Many historians consider the events of 1948 to fit the definition of ethnic cleansing.

In 1953, a force commanded by Ariel Sharon carried out a massacre in the village of Qibya, killing 69 villagers, two-thirds of whom were women and children. Ariel Sharon wrote in his diary that "Qibya was to be an example for everyone," and that he ordered "maximal killing and damage to property". The attack was internationally condemned, with the UN's Mixed Armistice Commission calling it "cold-blooded murder".

During the 1956 Suez Crisis, Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip, resulting in heavy civilian casualties. During the occupation, Israeli forces carried out massacres and summary executions, killing about 500 Palestinian civilians during and after the conquest of Gaza.

In 1970, during the Egyptian-Israeli War of Attrition, four Israeli Air Force Phantoms bombed a primary school in the village of Bahr El-Baqar, killing 46 children and injuring at least 50 others. Israel claimed the bombing was accidental, but Egypt and international observers widely condemned the attack as a war crime.

In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon to expel the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), resulting in the occupation of Southern Lebanon by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Following the siege of Beirut, the PLO forces and their allies negotiated their passage out of Lebanon with the protection of international peacekeepers. However, after the assassination of Bachir Gemayel, Israel's position in Beirut became untenable, and the signing of a peace treaty became increasingly unlikely.

On September 16, 1982, the IDF allowed Lebanese militias to enter the Sabra neighborhood and the adjacent Shatila refugee camp. From approximately 6:00 pm on September 16 to 8:00 am on September 18, the militias carried out a massacre while the IDF surrounded the camp. Between 460 and 3,500 civilians, mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shias, were killed. Many of the victims were tortured before their deaths; women and girls were raped, and some victims were skinned alive or had their limbs chopped off.

In 1993, Israeli forces launched Operation Accountability, a week-long attack against Lebanon. The operation resulted in the deaths of around 120 Lebanese civilians and injuries to nearly 500 others. Israeli bombardment destroyed 1,000 homes and damaged thousands more. Human Rights Watch stated that Israel was in grave violation of international humanitarian law, as the attacks were primarily aimed at terrorizing the population and inducing behavior that would serve Israel's political goals.

In 1996, Israel launched Operation Grapes of Wrath, a seventeen-day campaign against Hezbollah. The IDF conducted more than 600 air raids and fired approximately 25,000 shells, resulting in the deaths of approximately 154 Lebanese civilians and injuries to 351 others. During the operation, Israel also attacked civilian targets, including a market and a refugee camp, and hindered and attacked ambulances and vehicles of relief organizations.

In 2006, Israel invaded Gaza in response to the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Palestinian militants. During the conflict, the IDF used Palestinian civilians as human shields and targeted civilian objects, such as Gaza's only electrical power plant, leaving 1.4 million residents without reliable electricity and disrupting essential services.

In 2008-2009, Israel launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip, known as Operation Cast Lead. The United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict found that Israel targeted the people of Gaza as a whole and used disproportionate force, resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties. The IDF made extensive use of white phosphorus during the operation, and there were reports of indiscriminate attacks

International Criminal Court jurisdiction

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organisation and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. The Court's founding treaty, called the Rome Statute, grants the ICC jurisdiction over these four main crimes.

The Rome Statute established three separate bodies: The Assembly of States Parties, the International Criminal Court, which comprises four separate organs, and the Trust Fund for Victims. The Assembly of States Parties is made up of the states that are party to the Rome Statute. The Assembly elects officials of the Court, approves its budget, and adopts amendments to the Rome Statute. The Court itself has four organs: the Presidency, the Judicial Divisions, the Office of the Prosecutor, and the Registry.

The process to establish the court's jurisdiction may be "triggered" by any one of three possible sources: (1) a state party, (2) the Security Council, or (3) a prosecutor. It is then up to the prosecutor acting proprio motu to initiate an investigation under the requirements of Article 15 of the Rome Statute. The procedure is slightly different when referred by a state party or the Security Council, in which cases the prosecutor does not need authorization from the Pre-Trial Chamber to initiate the investigation.

The ICC is intended to serve as the "court of last resort", complementing existing national judicial systems, and may exercise its jurisdiction only when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute criminals. It lacks universal territorial jurisdiction and may only investigate and prosecute crimes committed within member states, crimes committed by nationals of member states, or crimes in situations referred to the Court by the United Nations Security Council.

In 2024, the ICC's Chief Prosecutor announced his intention to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, among others, in connection with war crimes committed in the Israel-Hamas war. Netanyahu and Gallant were formally issued arrest warrants in November 2024. Israel appealed the warrants, with Netanyahu accusing the ICC of antisemitism and Gallant arguing that the Court set "a dangerous precedent against the right to self-defence and ethical warfare and encourages murderous terrorism."

The ICC has faced criticism from some governments, civil groups, and other critics who have refused to recognise the court's assertion of jurisdiction. The United States, Russia, and Israel are among the countries that do not recognise the court's jurisdiction.

Collective punishment

Israel's use of collective punishment measures has been a source of significant controversy and has been widely criticised as a breach of international law. Collective punishment is prohibited by treaty in both international and non-international armed conflicts, as outlined in Common Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Article 4 of the Additional Protocol II.

International humanitarian law and human rights law emphasise the principle of individual responsibility, stating that no person may be punished for acts they did not commit. This is reflected in the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that "no protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed".

Israel's collective punishment measures have included movement restrictions, shelling of residential areas, mass arrests, and the destruction of public health infrastructure. Critics argue that these actions violate principles of proportionality and necessity under international law, disproportionately affecting civilians rather than addressing specific security concerns.

One notable example of Israel's collective punishment is the ongoing blockade of Gaza, which has been criticised by various human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The blockade restricts the movement of people and goods, including essential supplies such as food, medicine, and construction materials, severely impacting the daily lives and humanitarian conditions of Gaza's residents.

Another instance of alleged collective punishment is Israel's policy of settling its civilians in occupied Palestinian territory and displacing the local population. This practice contravenes fundamental rules of international humanitarian law, specifically Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that "the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies".

Israel's settlement policy has also been associated with other human rights violations, including violations of the right to life, liberty, security, equality, freedom of expression, and adequate housing. These violations have been well-documented by the UN, Amnesty International, and other NGOs.

While Israeli officials maintain that their actions are necessary security measures, the debate over the legality and morality of Israel's collective punishment continues to draw international scrutiny. Many advocates call for immediate relief for those affected and a reassessment of policies that indiscriminately harm civilians.

Frequently asked questions