Israeli occupation, not just E1 settlement expansion plan, ‘must end’: UN rapporteur

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese, said both the illegal E1 settlement expansion plan, which would split the occupied West Bank, and Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories “must come to an end.”

In a post on X on Friday, Albanese stated that the International Court of Justice’s 2024 advisory opinion clarified that “it’s the occupation itself — not just the E1 plans — that must end.”

She condemned the ongoing Israeli assaults and the violence perpetrated by illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, stating that Israeli soldiers and settlers severed water pipes in the West Bank as the siege of the town of Qusra persisted.

“In Gaza, the pulverization continues and so the massacres,” Albanese said.

“Since the ceasefire, Israel has killed 1,200+ people, including 300 children,” the veteran Italian legal expert on human rights noted.

She described the situation as “59 years of predatory occupation” and “1,049 days of genocide,” criticizing the lack of international sanctions.

Earlier, the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, and Canada called Israel’s decision to issue construction tenders for the E1 settlement project “unacceptable” and urged Israel to immediately rescind the plans.

Israel outsourcing coercion to settlers in occupied West Bank: UN’s Albanese

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese says Israel bears responsibility for settler violence in the West Bank and is effectively outsourcing coercion to them.

Additionally, Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Hussein Ibrahim Taha, condemned Israel’s announcement of a tender for the construction of 1,234 new settler units as part of the illegal E1 settlement project.

Taha said in a statement that the move constitutes a continuation of Israeli settlement expansion schemes, annexation, forced displacement and the imposition of facts on the ground, aimed at altering the legal, political and demographic status of the occupied Palestinian territories.

He called on the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to assume its legal and moral responsibilities and take immediate measures to compel Israel, as the occupying power, to comply with its international obligations and immediately halt its systematic crimes and violations against Palestinians, their land and holy sites.

The E1 project aims to sever connections between Palestinian communities and greatly hinder territorial continuity. It will create a separation between East al-Quds and certain areas of the West Bank, compelling Palestinians to undertake long detours when traveling between cities and towns.

Despite the fact that the E1 construction plan dates back to the 1990s, its execution has consistently faced delays owing to global opposition.

IRGC Quds Force chief: Israel afflicted with ‘social cancer’; its internal collapse ‘inevitable’

Chief Commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says illegal Israeli settlers are suffering from "social cancer."

On August 14, far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich announced his intention to move forward with the illegal project that “buries the concept of a Palestinian state”.

More than 700,000 settlers live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.

The international community views the settlements as illegal under international law and the Geneva Conventions due to their construction on occupied territories.

The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in several resolutions.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of historical Palestine illegal.

The ICJ demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds. It was mere words.

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