A significant development has ignited strong condemnation from UN experts regarding Israel’s actions in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. Israel recently approved new measures allowing it to purchase land in the territory with very few limitations, a move critics say is anything but routine.
Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, voiced grave concerns. She stated these aren’t mere administrative tweaks, but “deliberate, incremental steps toward permanent annexation.” Albanese warned that these actions would only deepen an occupation already deemed unlawful by international courts, further eroding Palestinian rights. She even went so far as to call it a “criminal policy pursuing ethnic cleansing,” with the explicit aim of “Jewish self-determination” only.
On the other hand, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich defend the decisions, claiming they remove “decades-old barriers” and enable “accelerated development of settlement on the ground.”
Palestinian leaders have denounced these moves, urging intervention from the US and the UN Security Council. Hamas reacted by calling for increased resistance, asserting that disarming an occupied people makes them an “easy victim.”
UN experts underline that continued annexation violates core international laws, including the UN Charter and the Fourth Geneva Convention. With the International Court of Justice already ruling Israel’s settlement policy “irredeemably illegal,” a strong call is now being made for nations to fulfill their legal obligations and help end this unlawful occupation immediately.
Source: https://www.jurist.org/news/2026/02/un-condemns-continued-israel-annexation-of-west-bank/
