UN Experts Slam Israel's 'Harassment' In West Bank

Palestinian mourners surround the body of Sanad Abu Atiyeh at a hospital in the town of Jenin on March 31, 2022 JAAFAR ASHTIYEH AFP
Palestinian mourners surround the body of Sanad Abu Atiyeh at a hospital in the town of Jenin on March 31, 2022 JAAFAR ASHTIYEH AFP
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UN Experts Slam Israel's 'Harassment' In West Bank

Palestinian mourners surround the body of Sanad Abu Atiyeh at a hospital in the town of Jenin on March 31, 2022 JAAFAR ASHTIYEH AFP
Palestinian mourners surround the body of Sanad Abu Atiyeh at a hospital in the town of Jenin on March 31, 2022 JAAFAR ASHTIYEH AFP

UN experts on Tuesday condemned Israel's "harassment" of human rights defenders and humanitarian workers in the occupied West Bank's Masafer Yatta villages, where Israel has a military zone.

The special rapporteurs insisted such harassment must stop, and said residents continue to be threatened by the risk of forcible transfer, including mass forced evictions and arbitrary displacement.

"Israeli authorities' hubris is proving without limits. They are even harassing human rights defenders and humanitarian workers seeking to support and protect people facing grave human rights violations in Masafer Yatta," the four experts said in a joint statement, AFP reported.

"This is a direct assault on the core of human rights and international humanitarian law... this also confirms that impunity over abuse of power fosters power to abuse."

The case of Masafer Yatta -- or Firing Zone 918 -- an agricultural area near Hebron, has been one of Israel's longest running legal battles.

In the early 1980s, the army declared the 30-square-kilometre (12-square-mile) territory a restricted military area and claimed it was uninhabited.

Residents of eight villages had been in court for around 20 years fighting Israeli government efforts to evict them.

But in May this year, Israel's High Court approved the eviction of Palestinian villagers to make way for a military training zone.

"The tragic implications of that decision are now before our eyes: roughly 1,200 Palestinian residents in Masafer Yatta are left defenseless in front of the threat of forced eviction and arbitrary displacement," said the experts, who do not speak for the United Nations but are mandated to report their findings to it.

The statement was penned by a special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory as well as rapporteurs on internally displaced persons, adequate housing, and the situation of human rights defenders.

They voiced dismay at reports that human rights defenders and humanitarian workers have been harassed by the Israeli military in Masafer Yatta.

"They have been stopped and detained for several hours at checkpoints and had their identification documents or cars confiscated, often on grounds that they had entered a closed military site without permission," their statement said.

The experts expressed particular concern for Sami Hureini, a prominent human rights defender and member of the "Youth of Sumud" activist group "engaged in peaceful resistance against illegal settlements in the southern Hebron hills".

On June 28, he was reportedly arrested at a checkpoint in Masafer Yatta and detained by the military for several hours, the experts said.

"He is currently being tried in the Ofer Military Court for allegedly obstructing and assaulting a soldier and entering a closed military zone, following his participation in a peaceful demonstration on 8 January 2021," they said.

Hureini's attorney, Riham Nasra, said her legal team has presented "hundreds of photos and videos" to disprove the allegations against her client.

"Five activists who were near Sami during the protest testified that at no point did Sami resort to violence," Nasra told AFP in a statement.

The Israeli military and the country's foreign ministry did not immediately comment on the remarks by the UN experts.

The Israeli army told AFP that Hureini had been "charged for his participation in a violent demonstration against soldiers and inciting other demonstrators to violence against the security forces".



Palestinian NGO to Ask UK Court to Block F-35 Parts to Israel over Gaza War

Protesters demonstrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice ahead of a legal challenge brought by the Palestinian NGO Al-Haq over Britain's exports of parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel, amid its conflict with Hamas, in London, Britain, November 18, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin
Protesters demonstrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice ahead of a legal challenge brought by the Palestinian NGO Al-Haq over Britain's exports of parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel, amid its conflict with Hamas, in London, Britain, November 18, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin
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Palestinian NGO to Ask UK Court to Block F-35 Parts to Israel over Gaza War

Protesters demonstrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice ahead of a legal challenge brought by the Palestinian NGO Al-Haq over Britain's exports of parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel, amid its conflict with Hamas, in London, Britain, November 18, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin
Protesters demonstrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice ahead of a legal challenge brought by the Palestinian NGO Al-Haq over Britain's exports of parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel, amid its conflict with Hamas, in London, Britain, November 18, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin

Britain is allowing parts for F-35 fighter jets to be exported to Israel despite accepting they could be used in breach of international humanitarian law in Gaza, lawyers for a Palestinian rights group told a London court on Monday.

West Bank-based Al-Haq, which documents alleged rights violations by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, is taking legal action against Britain's Department for Business and Trade at London's High Court, Reuters reported.

Israel has been accused of violations of international humanitarian law in the Gaza war, with the UN Human Rights Office saying nearly 70% of fatalities it has verified were women and children, a report Israel rejected.

Israel says it takes care to avoid harming civilians and denies committing abuses and war crimes in the conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Al-Haq's case comes after Britain in September suspended 30 of 350 arms export licences, though it exempted the indirect export of F-35 parts, citing the impact on the global F-35 programme.

Al-Haq argues that decision was unlawful as there is a clear risk F-35s could be used in breach of international humanitarian law.

British government lawyers said in documents for Monday's hearing that ministers assessed Israel had committed possible breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL) in relation to humanitarian access and the treatment of detainees.

Britain also "accepts that there is clear risk that F-35 components might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of IHL", its lawyer James Eadie said.

Eadie added that Britain had nonetheless decided that F-35 components should still be exported, quoting from advice to defense minister John Healey that suspending F-35 parts "would have a profound impact on international peace and security".

A full hearing of Al-Haq's legal challenge is likely to be heard early in 2025.

The Gaza health ministry says more than 43,800 people have been confirmed killed since the war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023.