United Nations bullies Israel, says they must withdraw from West Bank including East Jerusalem

The UNHRC is telling Israel that it should withdraw all settlements from the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, or the Palestinians may bring them before the International Criminal Court of Justice:

JERUSALEM POST – The International Criminal Court of Justice could hold Israel culpable for West Bank settlement activity if the Palestinians become party to the Rome Statue, a United Nations Human Rights Council probe concluded on Thursday.

The three-person fact finding mission released a draft copy of its report in Geneva in advance of a March 18th council debate on the matter.

Israel cut its ties with the council when the probe was announced last March, in anticipation that it would add fuel to the Palestinian drive to bring Israel to the ICC on the settlement’s issue.

Israel believes that the resolution of the West Bank settlement issue should be determined through direct talks, and not imposed by the international community outside the framework of negotiations.

In the probe’s conclusions, the mission’s report stated that Israel had an obligation under international law not to transfer its population into the Palestinian territories.

“The Rome Statute establishes the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction over the deportation or transfer, directly or indirectly, by the occupying Power of parts of its own population into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory,” the report stated.

It added, “ratification of the Statute by Palestine may lead to accountability for gross violations of human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law and justice for victims.”

Still, the report stopped short of advocating that the issue be brought to the ICC.

It did, however, call on Israel to stop settlement activity and withdraw from the West Bank, including east Jerusalem.

it stated, a long held UN belief, that settlements are a violation of international human rights laws and international humanitarian law.

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This is just the UN trying to assert itself in the peace process to force some kind of agreement without the Palestinians actually having to negotiate with Netanyahu. And it’s exactly what many said would happen when the UN voted to upgrade the Palestinians member status.


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