Report on Israel’s Violations of Palestinian Civilians’ Right to Adequate Housing and Land in OPT

HIC

Conclusion

HIC and the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights once again remind that the IOF practice of home demolition, land and house seizure and the expansion of settler colonies and walls in the OPT are crimes breaching the most fundamental norms of international public law, including human rights standards and the international law.

HIC and the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights remind the Commission that Israel is legally bound under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Right, inter alia, to report on the implementation of its treaty obligations in areas under its control, and stubbornly has refused to do so. The international community, and the members of the Commission bear a corresponding responsibility under the principle of international cooperation to remedy these violations within the framework of international public law. The effective inaction of States to do so has encouraged Israel to continue this pattern of deprivation and senseless destruction, undermining peace and security in the region and beyond.

HIC and the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights endorse the statement of the UN Rapporteur on adequate housing, recognizing the “strong need for an end to the occupation and for the immediate deployment of an international protection force in the region,” and urging the international community “to act decisively to protect Palestinians by taking urgent steps to remove the impunity that Israel enjoys.”[1] Failure to do so perpetuates hostility in the region, and destroys faith in the entire system of international law and legitimacy among the wider public.