PALESTINE’S LEGAL SCENE –Issue.155

Your weekly survey of the most important publications and activities related to Palestine and law, from local and international sources

18- 24 Dec 2022

Issued every Sunday by Law for Palestine

This weekly report reviews the legal dynamics of the Palestine question, and everything related to international law and Palestine. The report includes an account of the most important publications, activities and conferences related to Palestine at the local, regional, international levels. The report further covers decisions, decrees, and judicial orders affecting the Palestinian cause, whether made at the official, academic or public levels. The report aims to be a reference for monitoring, documenting and archiving the latest human rights developments related to Palestine, and to present them to individuals, researchers, study centers, and official, academic and legal institutions concerned.

To view this Volume of Palestine’s Legal Scene, please click here (3 minutes read)

Judicial decrees, decisions, positions, and orders issued by official Palestinian bodies

• The Palestinian MFA condemned the deliberate run-over crime committed by an Israeli settler which resulted in the martyrdom of the two young brothers, Muhannad and Muhammad Mutair, from the Qalandiya camp, and the deportation of the Jerusalemite prisoner, Salah al-Hamouri, to France. The Ministry further called on the international community and the U.S administration to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by adopting binding international mechanisms for the occupying state, forcing it to immediately engage in a real peace process that leads to ending the occupation of the land of the State of Palestine within a specific time frame. (December 18, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian MFA condemned the Israeli escalation in occupied Jerusalem, against its citizens and against Islamic and Christian sanctities, and affirmed the continuation of the international political, diplomatic and legal movement to provide international protection for Jerusalem and its sanctities, in coordination with Jordan; Based on the historical Hashemite tutelage over it. (December 18, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian PM called on the UN teams present in Palestine to deploy surveillance patrols on the roads and in the targeted areas, in light of the “absolute appropriation of Palestinian blood, field executions on the roads, and the escalation of terrorism by the occupation and its settlers”. (December 19, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian FM held the Israeli government fully and directly responsible for the crime of medical negligence “that led to the death of the prisoner Nasser Abu Hamid”, calling for the immediate release of his body. The ministry confirmed that it would submit his file to the ICC. (December 19, 2022). For further details, click
• The Palestinian MOFAE condemned the campaign to demolish homes, tents, sheep pens, and economic and commercial facilities that the occupied Palestinian territory witnesses daily, especially on land classified as “Area C”. The ministry considered that the Israeli reactions to the report issued by the EU regarding practical steps to strengthen the Palestinian presence in areas classified as “C” constitute official recognition of the occupation’s intention to annex them. (December 21, 2022). For further details, click here
• Chairman of the Commission of Detainees and Ex-detainees Affairs said: “Nowadays, we experience the phase of executing Palestinian prisoners by injecting them with fatal diseases while being inside the Israeli prison.” (December 21, 2022). For further details, click here
• Head of the Palestinian National Council: The Israeli authorities’ decision to refuse to hand over the body of the martyr prisoner Naser Abu Hmeid is fascist (December 21, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian MOFAE condemned the storming of the Israeli occupation forces into the city of Nablus, which led to the death of the young man, Ahmed Daraghmeh from Tubas. It also condemned the storming of the town of Abu Dis, the occupation uprooting hundreds of trees, and the demolition of agricultural facilities in the Bethlehem governorate, and warned the international community of the dangers of managing the conflict in light of the creeping annexation of the West Bank. (December 22, 2022). For further details, click here

Judicial decrees, decisions, positions, and orders issued by official Israeli bodies

• The MK, OferKasif, expressed his support for the French government in condemning the crime of forcible transfer and ethnic cleansing committed by Israel against the French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri from Jerusalem. (December 18, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Israeli Defense Minister decides not to hand over the body of the Palestinian prisoner Naser Abu Hmeid for burial. This decision was made following an assessment he held with senior security officials and a previous security cabinet ruling regarding holding onto the bodies of “Palestinian Terrorists” for a potential Israeli prisoner exchange (December 21, 2022). For further details, click here

Judicial decrees, decisions, positions, and orders issued by Arab, European, and international bodies

• The French MOFAE condemned Israel’s deportation of French-Palestinian lawyer Salah al-Hamouri, who has been detained since March without formal charges, stressing its opposition to the expulsion of a Palestinian resident in East Jerusalem, as it is an occupied territory under the Fourth Geneva Convention. (December 18, 2022). For further details, click here
• The U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs declared its support for the necessity of conducting a thorough investigation—by the Israeli police—on the killing of the brothers Mohammed and MuhannedMuteir. An Israeli settler committed this accident in Nablus, and it is described as a “tragedy” (December 18. 2022). For further details, click here
• The UN Human Rights Office has condemned the forcible deportation of Palestinian-French lawyer Salah Hammouri from the occupied Palestinian territory to France, considering that this “constitutes a war crime”. (December 19, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process called for an immediate end to settlement activity, the demolition of Palestinian-owned property, prevention of the possible displacement and eviction of Palestinians, and an end to violence against Palestinian civilians, especially children. (December 19, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Secretary-General of LAS condemned the forcible deportation of the French Jerusalemite prisoner Salah al-Hamouri to France by the Israeli occupation authorities. (December 20, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Arab Parliament called on the international community to pressure the occupying power to immediately release the body of the martyr Nasser abu Hamid, and to release the Palestinian prisoners, stressing its full support for the just struggle of the Palestinian people. (December 20, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Secretary-General of LAS said that the international community is required to assume its responsibilities towards stopping the accelerating deterioration of the Palestinian situation and to work towards launching a serious effort to achieve a settlement based on the two-state solution. (December 20, 2022). For further details, click here / here
• China’s permanent representative to the UN called on the international community to push forward with the two-state solution and stop inaction. He said, “We hope that the UN and the Security Council will take substantive steps to advance the two-state solution, and support the Palestinian people in restoring and exercising their inalienable rights”. (December 20, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Organization of Islamic Cooperation: Israel is responsible for the death of the prisoner Nasser Abu Hamid as a result of the policy of deliberate medical negligence, and we demand the formation of an international commission of inquiry to investigate this new crime. (December 20, 2022). For further details, click here
• A new report published by the German Conference of Interior Ministers (IMK) recommends to urge schools to show their students a more positive view of Israel in the classroom, categorizes Amnesty International’s recent report on Israeli apartheid as “antisemitic.” It also labels the (BDS) movement as dangerous and antisemitic. (December 21, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Chilean President announced his country’s intention to raise the level of its official representation in Palestine and open an embassy in Ramallah. (December 22, 2022). For further details, click here
• The President of the Palestinian Football Association condemned the execution of the Palestinian player, Ahmed AtefDaraghmeh, 23, during the occupation army’s storming of Nablus. (December 22, 2022). For further details, click here

Publications of human rights NGOs

• Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights held the Israeli occupation authorities responsible for the death of the patient, Mahmoud Al-Kurd, as a result of the delay in granting him a permit to pass through the Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing for treatment in Jerusalem hospitals, and called on the international community to intervene to save the lives of patients in the Gaza Strip. (December 17, 2022). For further details, click here
• Amnesty International has confirmed that the expulsion of Palestinian-French lawyer Salah Hammouri from Jerusalem constitutes a serious violation of human rights and a possible war crime under international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention, and that this expresses the long-term political goal of the Israeli authorities, which is to reduce the number of the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem. (December 18, 2022). For further details, click here.
• PCHR, Al-Mezan Center, and the Independent Commission for Human Rights hold the occupation state responsible for the death of the prisoner Nasser Abu Hamid, calling on the international community to compel the occupation authorities to respect the rules of international law. (December 20, 2022). For further details, click here.
• B’Tselem in its latest report: November was one of the bloodiest months in the last decade since 2004. In November 2022, Israeli forces killed at least 23 Palestinians in the West Bank, five of whom were minors. (December 21, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Independent Commission and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights condemned the arbitrary measures taken by the occupation authorities against Jerusalemite lawyer and human rights defender Salah Al-Hamouri, represented by his forcible and illegal deportation from the Occupied Palestinian Territory and his birthplace, Occupied Jerusalem, to France. (December 20, 2022). For further details, click here
• Law for Palestine, in collaboration with dozens of human rights organizations, academics, activists, and Palestinians, issues a joint statement of solidarity with Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, in response to a defamation campaign aimed at suppressing her mandate and preventing her from carrying out her duties. (December 20, 2022) For further details, click here
• Al-Mezan Center condemned the occupation forces’ arrest of a merchant while he was at the Beit Hanoun (Erez) checkpoint in the northern Gaza Strip. It also denounced the continued blockade of the Strip and the severe restrictions on citizens’ freedom of movement. The Center called on the international community to act to ensure respect for international law and to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip. (December 22, 2022). For further details, click here

Academic research and studies

• Researchers Orna Ben-Naftali and Eitan Diamond published a study titled: “No Place for Palestinians: The Israeli High Court of Justice Fades Out of the Global Community of Courts – The Farcical Tragedy of the 2022 Judgment on MasaferYatta.” (September 7, 2022). To read more about this, click here
• Researcher NimerSultany publishes an article titled: “The Question of Palestine as a Litmus Test: On Human Rights and Root Causes.”. To find out more, click here
• Law for Palestine published a new article by researchers Ihsan Adel and Hassan Bin Omran, entitled: “An International Paradigm Shift Recognising the Root Causes of Palestine’s Struggle? Reflection on the UN SR’s Report and Recent Developments in the Discourse on Palestine/Israel.” (December 20, 2022). For further details of the report, click here