Legality of Israeli settlements

Not to be confused with Legality of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as well as in the Syrian Golan Heights, are illegal under international law. These settlements are in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and in breach of international declarations.[1][2][3][4][5] In a 2024 ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) relating to the Palestinian territories, the court reaffirmed the illegality of the settlements and called on Israel to end its occupation, cease its settlement activity, and evacuate all its settlers.

The United Nations Security Council, the United Nations General Assembly, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Court of Justice and the High Contracting Parties to the Convention have all affirmed that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the Israeli-occupied territories.[a][b] Numerous UN resolutions and prevailing international opinion hold that Israeli settlements are a violation of international law, including UN Security Council resolutions 446 in 1979, 478 in 1980,[6][7][8] and 2334 in 2016.[9][10][11] 126 Representatives at the reconvened Conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions in 2014 declared the settlements illegal[12] as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Israel disputes the illegality of its settlements, claiming that Israeli citizens were neither deported nor transferred to the territories, that the territory is not occupied since there had been no internationally recognized legal sovereign prior,[13][14] and that the Fourth Geneva Convention does not de jure apply.[15][16] However, all of Israel's arguments have been refuted by the ICJ's 2024 ruling.[17] Furthermore, the Supreme Court of Israel has repeatedly ruled that Israel's presence in the West Bank is in violation of international law.[18]

The establishment of settlements has been described by some legal experts as a war crime according to the Rome Statute (to which Israel is not a party), and is currently under investigation as part of the International Criminal Court investigation in Palestine.

  1. ^ Pertile 2005, p. 141.
  2. ^ Barak-Erez 2006, p. 548.
  3. ^ Drew 1997, pp. 151–152.
  4. ^ ILC 2005, p. 14.
  5. ^ Roberts 1990, pp. 85–86.
  6. ^ Playfair 1992, p. 396.
  7. ^ Albin 2001, p. 150.
  8. ^ Quigley 1999, p. 72.
  9. ^ ReliefWeb 2016.
  10. ^ Beaumont 2016.
  11. ^ UN 2016.
  12. ^ HCP 2014.
  13. ^ MoF 2007.
  14. ^ Mahler 2016, p. 309.
  15. ^ Gerson 2012, p. 82.
  16. ^ Roberts 1988, p. 350.
  17. ^ Gross, Aeyal (19 July 2024). "The ICJ Just Demolished One of Israel's Key Defenses of the Occupation". Haaretz. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  18. ^ Tomer Zarchin, If Israel is not occupying the West Bank it must give up land held by the IDF at Haaretz, 9 July 2012: 'For 45 years, different compositions of the High Court of Justice stated again and again that Israel's presence in the West Bank violates international law, which is clearly opposed to Levy's findings.'


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