Haaretz reported that Israel’s Supreme Planning and Settlement Council has agreed to the final construction of 7,000 residential units in the West Bank and Jerusalem settlements. Netanyahu’s extremist cabinet has decided to build 7,287 residential units in the past few days. According to the Washington Institute, the High Council of Planning and Settlement of the Zionist regime had also agreed to build 7 thousand of residential units. The approval to make this remarkable number of residential units is the highest in the last two years. Considering these cases, how many Israeli settlers are in the west bank?
Lack of legal validity of Israeli settlements
For many, there is a question of how many Israeli settlers are in the west bank. The UN spokesperson stated that Israel’s settlements have no legal validity and violate international law. Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman of the United Nations, said that all settlements are illegal under international law and a substantial obstacle to peace. The UN spokesperson added, “if these measures are implemented, they would further undermine prospects for a viable two-state solution. Therefore, how many Israeli settlers will be determined on the west bank.”
Expanding the military occupation of Palestinian lands
So far, many settlements have been built in the occupied territories and the question that, how many Israeli settlers are in the west bank? The answer is crystal clear. The approval to make this remarkable number of residential units is the highest in the last two years. The UN spokesperson continued: He reiterates that all settlements are illegal under international law and a substantial obstacle to peace.
The EU’s move to Israeli settlements
In response to the continued construction of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, the EU also announced that these settlements violate international laws. The representatives of Ireland, France, Albania and Estonia, in a joint statement on behalf of the current and former members of the European Union in the Security Council, expressed their deep regret over the Israeli regime’s decision to build more than 7,000 residential units in the West Bank, and the Zionist authorities that they wanted to withdraw from this decision.
Israeli settlements are an obstacle to achieving permanent peace.
Geraldine Byrne Nason, Ireland’s representative in the UN after the meeting of the Security Council to review the situation in the Middle East, including the issue of Palestine, emphasises that the new settlements will be another obstacle to the two-state solution and Israel’s settlement constructions are a clear violation of international laws and an obstacle to achieving a just, sustainable and comprehensive peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
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Israeli settlers in the west bank
How many Israeli settlers are in the west bank? It is a critical question. Despite the international opposition to the illegal settlements and occupations of the Zionist regime, in the past decades, this regime has occupied more than 50% of the West Bank, including Jerusalem, for the construction of residential settlements and military bases. The use of human shields, once a standard Israeli army tactic, was outlawed under international law in 2005, but growing evidence suggests that the Israeli regime has resumed its use. On May 13, Israeli soldiers used a 16-year-old Palestinian girl named Ahed Mohammad Rida Mereb as a human shield. She was seriously injured, according to the report of the Defense for Children Palestine (DCIP).
The use of human shield tactics by the Israeli army
According to B’Tselem, a human rights organisation in the occupied territories, the Israeli army has used the human shield tactic since the occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in 1967. Despite repeated Israeli claims that Palestinian fighters use their civilians as human shields, especially during clashes between Gaza and Israel, no valid evidence has been found. Until 2005, Israeli soldiers’ use of Palestinians as human shields was standard military practice for the Israeli military, a legal process under Israeli law.
Prohibition of using the human shield method
Israel’s Supreme Court banned using the method only after a three-year legal battle by seven Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups who argued that the measure violated the Geneva Convention. When Israel eventually outlawed the practice, the Israeli army protested. Israel’s defence minister at the time, Shaul Mofaz, appeared in court to present reasons for lifting the ban.
The Israeli army’s attempt to revise the ban on human shields
Israel’s Ministry of Defense specifically raised this case for applying this policy inside the occupied West Bank, although it has been recognised as a violation of international law. Since human shields have been outlawed, the IDF has tried several times to have the ruling revised, arguing that it provides essential protection to their soldiers. While the Israeli military routinely accuses Hamas of using the human shield tactic in Gaza, it simultaneously uses it and even argues for its re-legalisation.
Using the human shield tactic
Former Israeli soldiers speaking to the Israeli group “Breaking the Silence” testified that they used human shields after the practice was outlawed. Despite overwhelming evidence that Israeli forces have continued to use Palestinians as human shields since the practice was banned, very few Israeli soldiers have been brought to justice for their actions. The last time Israeli soldiers were punished for using a Palestinian as a human shield was in 2010, during the Israeli invasion of Gaza in 2008-2009.
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Israeli settlers in the west bank
This article answered the critical question of how many Israeli settlers are in the west bank. After the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem in 1967, more than 250 Jewish settlements were built in areas where about 650,000 Jews live. According to international law principles, it is illegal for them to live in these territories constructed in the occupied zone. Palestinians demonstrate almost every Friday in different areas of the West Bank in protest against Israel’s settlement building and the barrier wall construction. On the other hand, Israel’s armed forces attacked them. Also, international protests against Israel’s use of human shield tactics have increased in a situation where Israel continues to use this method.
