PALESTINE’S LEGAL SCENE –Issue.134

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

31 July – 6 August 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.

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

• Spokesman for the Palestinian Presidency said that the Israeli decision to withhold 600 million shekels from the Palestinian Authority is unacceptable and illegal under international law and states that the rights of the Palestinian people must not be violated. (July 31, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian MOFAE condemns the Israeli PM’s attack on the UN Commission of Inquiry and sees it as Israeli insistence on committing more crimes. The MOFAE further condemns the Israeli demand to the UN Secretary-General to dissolve the committee and the repetition of the usual Israeli accusations of the committee being anti-Semitic. (August 1, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian MOFAE condemns the Israeli plan to confiscate 87 dunums of Palestinian land in the towns of Ya’bad and Anin, west of Jenin, in order to build 107 new settlement units, expanding the “Tal Menashe” settlement. (August 2, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian Presidency condemns the Israeli occupation forces’ arrest of the PA’s governor of Jerusalem, Adnan Ghaith. (August 2, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian MOFAE warns against the role of settlement councils in consolidating Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank. (August 3, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Chief Justice of Palestine warns of the dangers of Israeli calls to storm Al-Aqsa early next week under the pretext of commemorating the “destruction of the Temple”. (August 4, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian MOFAE condemns the aggression of the occupying power in Gaza and calls for international action to stop it and provide protection for the Palestinian people. (August 5, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the UN met with the President of the Security Council and sent letters to UN officials demanding an end to Israeli aggression on Gaza. (August 6, 2022). For further details, click here

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

• The IDF Archives released court documents from the trial of officers involved in the 1956 Kafr Kassem massacre, in which 49 Arabs were killed by Border Police officers. For further details, click here
• The Israeli Minister of Interior (MOI) said that the Israeli cabinet approved the construction of 19,000 new housing units in the settlement of Netivot, east of Gaza, and the settlement of Beer Yaakov, on the western side of the Ramla area. (July 31, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Israeli PM calls on the Secretary-General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, to “immediately dissolve” the UN Commission of Inquiry in Palestine, alleging “anti-Semitic statements” made by one of its members. (July 31, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Israeli security cabinet decided to deduct 600 million shekels from tax dues collected by Israel for the Palestinian Authority (PA) because the later provided funds to the families of the martyrs. (July 31, 2022). For further details, click here
• Israel approves a plan to allow Palestinian travelers to travel from the West Bank through Ramon International Airport. (August 3, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Israeli army fears clashes at Al-Haram Al-Sharif could inflame tensions in Gaza. (August 5, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Israeli PM declares his government will not allow “terrorist organisations” to set an agenda in the Gaza Strip and threaten Israeli citizens. He added, “Let anyone who abuses Israel know that we will reach him.” (August 5, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations said, “Israel always has the right to defend itself and its citizens. Our forces will get to anyone who tries to harm Israelis”. (August 5, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations said, in response to the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process’s statement on the bombing of Gaza, “For how long will the UN continue making false immoral comparisons between a democracy that abides by international law, and designated terror orgs committing war crimes by deliberately targeting civilians?”. (August 5, 2022). For further details, click here

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

• The League of Arab States (LAS) organized the 95th Conference of Liaison Officers of the Regional Offices of the Arab Boycott of Israel at the headquarters of the General Secretariat. (July 31, 2022). For further details, click here
• The European Union condemns the increase in settler violence, the latest of which being the murder of the young Palestinian boy Amjad Nashat Abu Alia. (July 31, 2022). For further details, click here
• The European Union, Finland, and Italy provided $15.678 million to the Palestinian Authority to cover medical referrals to East Jerusalem hospitals. (August 2, 2022). For further details, click here
• The UN Committee Against Torture issues a report, emphasizing that the continued Israeli occupation of Palestine, expansion of settlements, and continuation of the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip constitute a major challenge to the State of Palestine’s ability to implement its obligations at the international level. It also highlighted violations committed by the Palestinian governments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip against Palestinian citizens, such as political arrests and the issuance of illegal decrees of law that affect citizens as a result of the political divide. (July 29, 2022). For further details, click here
• UN experts denounce Israel’s harassment of human rights defenders and humanitarian workers in Masafer Yatta, stating that this is a direct attack on the essence of international human rights and humanitarian law and a serious violation of the right of human rights defenders’ ability to engage in their work. (August 2, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Secretary-General of the Royal Committee for Jerusalem Affairs (RCJA), Abdullah Kanaan, stated that Israel withdrew the licenses of 6 Jerusalem schools in violation of international law. (August 2, 2022). For further details, click here
• OCHA reported that about 100 people departed from the “Ras a Tin” herding community, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, because “their living conditions have become unbearable” due to coercive practices of the Israeli occupation. (August 3, 2022). For further details, click here
• The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process said that there can be no justification for any attacks against civilians in Gaza. (August 5, 2022). For further details, click here
• The US Ambassador to Israel stated that the United States firmly believes Israel has a right to protect itself and the US is engaging with different parties to calm all sides. (August 5, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Jordanian MOFAE stressed the need to stop Israeli aggression on Gaza and called on the international community to intervene to end escalation and provide protection for the Palestinians. (August 5, 2022). For further details, click here
• Qatar, Tunisia, and Algeria all condemned Israeli aggression on Gaza and urged the international community to intervene to stop the occupation’s aggression against Palestinians. (August 5/6, 2022).
• The UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) condemns the Israeli air strikes on Gaza and affirms that the Israeli operation is a flagrant act of aggression. (August 6, 2022). For further details, click here
• The League of Arab States (LAS), the Arab Parliament, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, calling it a flagrant defiance of international humanitarian law, and asked for international protection for the Palestinian people. (August 6, 2022).
• Turkey condemned Israeli aggression on Gaza, stated that targeting civilians is unacceptable, and demanded the Israeli aggression halt immediately. (August 6, 2022). For further details, click here

Academic Research and Studies

• Researcher Mohammed Abu Oun published a study titled “The challenges facing the Palestinian medical staff in light of the Zionist attacks: An analytical legal study”. For further details, click here

Publications of Human Rights NGOs

• Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights denounced the Israeli occupation’s closure of the Gaza Strip crossings. They warned against the deterioration of the humanitarian situation, calling on the international community to intervene immediately. (August 2, 2022). For further details, click here
• The BDS movement praises the position of the Algerian football player, on the Turkish “Istanbul Basaksehir” team, for his refusal to play matches against the Israeli “Maccabi Netanya” team. They also praise the Jordanian taekwondo players who withdrew from the World Taekwondo Championships in Bulgaria in rejection of Israeli normalization. (August 3, 2022). For further details, click here
• Amnesty International calls on the Israeli occupation to end the solitary confinement of Ahmad Manasra, a Palestinian prisoner who has developed serious mental health problems such as “schizophrenia and severe depression” since his arrest as a child. (August 3, 2022). For further details, click here
• Ben & Jerry’s expresses its refusal to reverse its decision to stop selling ice cream in the Israeli settlements, resorting to filing a lawsuit against its parent company Unilever, who responded by freezing salaries. (August 3, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Applied Research Institute (ARIJ) said that the Israeli occupation forces published an announcement from Yossi Segal, who is responsible for the so-called “government properties and absentee property” in the occupied West Bank, granting authority to build a settlement in the Palestinian town of Kafr Malik in Ramallah governorate. (August 4, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Al Mezan Center and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights denounced the aggression on the Gaza Strip, the extrajudicial killings, and the war attacks that killed and wounded dozens of civilians. They called on the international community to provide international protection for the Palestinian people. (August 5, 2022). For further details, click here
• The Red Cross expressed its concern about “the escalation of armed hostilities” in Gaza Strip and called on all parties to abide by the rules of international humanitarian law. (August 6, 2022). For further details, click here
• Apple adds Palestine to its maps application. (August 6, 2022). For further details, click here