UN experts condemned Israel’s continued attempts to take over the Palestinian West Bank on Wednesday, following approved measures that grants Israel power to purchase land in the occupied territory with almost no limitations.

Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, stated:

These measures are not routine administrative adjustments. They are deliberate, incremental steps toward permanent annexation, advanced piece by piece, in broad daylight, and with total impunity… [T]hey will only deepen and entrench an occupation that the world’s highest court has determined to be unlawful, further eroding the rights of Palestinians.

The policy, approved February 8, removes barriers for Israelis to settle in the territory and imposes heightened law enforcement powers in the region. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, stated that these decisions “are intended to remove decades-old barriers, repeal discriminatory Jordanian legislation, and enable accelerated development of settlement on the ground.” 

Palestinian leaders denounced these actions while requesting US and UN Security Council intervention. Hamas reacted by calling for increased resistance and continued refusal to disarm. Hamas politician Khaled Meshaal asserted that “resistance is a right” and that disarming occupied peoples will make them “an easy victim to be eliminated.” 

Albanese warned that continued Israeli annexation of Palestinian territories violates Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and the Fourth Geneva Convention. She urged nations and member states to “comply with their legal obligations” to aid in ending the unlawful Israeli occupation, adding:

The architects of the measures…have openly and repeatedly stated that the objective is to accelerate settlement development for ‘Jewish self-determination’ only… This is not neutral governance. It is a criminal policy pursuing ethnic cleansing that must be halted immediately.

International bodies and human rights organizations have continuously documented Israel’s disregard for international law. In its July 2024 advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice ruled that the nation’s settlement policy is irredeemably illegal.