Legal laws of occupation - bypasses | Machsomwatch

It is forbidden to settle colonists in the occupied area

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Precepts of Occupation Laws
  • Occupation is not sovereignty
  • Occupation is temporary – the occupier must aspire to put an end to occupation
  • The occupier is a trustee who must administer the ground in favor of the occupied
  • The occupier is not entitled to promote non-security interests or interests of its own citizens
  • By definition, the occupation rule is  a military rule in which the occupier has no sovereignty, and it is inherently non democratic
  • The main assignments of the occupier are:        

- The military rule should protect the local population

-  Under such rule, the police is subordinate to the army

-  No population is to be transferred from the occupying power to the occupied territory

      

 

Areas of control freezed by the Oslo Accords
The Facts: International Conventions Regarding War and Occupation

 

  • The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907

These contain the official initial formulations of laws and conduct of war on land and at sea. They were made to render a precise definition of the laws of war, aspiring to soften war damages and severity as much as possible. Militarily, the instructions were meant to serve as rules of conduct for the warring parties in their mutual relations and as regards the local population. Israel signed the 1907 Hague Convention on August 14, 1978.

  • The Geneva Convention – 1949

This convention deals with human rights in a “state of war”, emphasizing the occupier’s duty to provide the occupied population with basic human rights and enable routine everyday life. It details the following rights: the right to life; the right to freedom of movement; the right to livelihood; the right to housing; the right to own property; the right to fair trial; the right to health care; the right to environmental planning; prohibition of collective punishment; prohibition of expelling inhabitants from the occupied territory; prohibition of the forcible settling of citizens of the occupying state in occupied territory; prohibition of pressuring the occupied population to collaborate with the occupying powers.

This convention is considered a part of agreed-upon international law; however, Israel’s governments have always claimed that it does not apply to Israel’s actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This is because Israel regards the West Bank and Gaza Strip as disputed territories that were occupied prior to 1967, and  therefore cannot  be considered territories occupied by Israel. Still, Israel has declared that it accepts the convention’s “humanitarian instructions”. It signed on July 6, 1951, but did not anchor the convention in its laws nor confirmed it through rulings of the Israel Supreme Court.

  • The Rome Convention of 1998

This convention has defined genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes; accelerated the founding of an international court to try criminals charged with any of the above crimes. Israel is signatory to this convention as well, but has not ratified it, and therefore does not take part in the International Court at the Hague, active since 2002.

Following the recognition of Palestine as an Observer State at the United Nations on February 5, 2021, it was accepted as a member of the International Court according to the Rome Convention, and this court is therefore allowed to respond to petitions dealing with the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. The resolution removes the legal barriers that had so far prevented the court from investigating matters in the above-mentioned areas.

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What is Occupation

Occupation is a situation whereby a certain territory is subjected de-facto to the rule of a hostile army. Occupation is manifest only over a territory in which such rule has been constituted and is realizable. Since the Second World War, it is agreed th
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Occupation is Not Sovereignty

As far as international law is concerned, sovereignty is the rule of a territory and the right to establish laws there. Such a right is usually held by a state that applies its laws to the territories within its borders. In other words, sovereignty is sim
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Is the Israeli Occupation Really Temporary

According to Amendment 55 of the 1970 Hague Amendments, to which Israel is signatory, the occupying state functions as a trustee of the occupied territory it holds as a temporary charge only, and is forbidden to carry out long-term changes that are not i
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Clauses that define war crimes according to international law

 - Violating war law – such as establishing colonies

 - Crimes against humanity – wide-range discriminatory administration of the occupied civilian population (apartheid de facto)

- Crimes of belligerence – waging forbidden war

- Genocide

-  Personal accountability – in international law, the crimes are attributed to the persons who perpetrated them, not to the state, usually to the commanding echelons.

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Apartheid – an International Crime

While occupation is a legal state of affairs (albeit outstanding and temporary), by definition, apartheid is an international crime. Legal opinion and the 2022 Amnesty Report establish that an apartheid crime against humanity is being perpetrated in the
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Levy Committee Attempt to Bypass Occupation Law

The Committee headed by the ex supreme-court judge Edmond Levy, was created in February 2012 after a series of legal procedures by which the state was required to demolish illegal construction of settlements by Israeli citizens inside the Occupied Territ
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Any Palestinian structure is demolished, any colony and settlers' outpost is expanded
Photo: 
Hagit Bak, Nurit Popper