PALESTINE’S LEGAL SCENE –Issue.184

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

9 – 15 July 2023

Issued every Sunday by Law for Palestine

Prepared by: Razwan Issa, Nour Kharouf, Nermin Allawh, Joman Al Khateeb

Translation: Mays Abu Atwan and Ahmad Staitia
Editing: Nardeen Khalid

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 Issue of Palestine’s Legal Scene, please click here (5 minutes read)

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

• Colonization & Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC) issued its mid-term report, “Aggressions by the Occupying State and Colonizers on the Palestinian Territories”, which documented 4073 attacks during the first half of the year 2023. (July 9, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFAE) welcomed the unprecedented positions of the American president towards the Netanyahu government by considering it the most extremist government in Israel’s history. (July 9, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian MOFAE strongly condemned what it called the “false and misleading” claims made by Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding his alleged commitment to preserving the Palestinian Authority from collapse and providing facilitations to Palestinians. The Ministry affirmed the continuation of the Israeli repression against the Palestinian people and the smear of the Palestinian National Authority. (July 10, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Palestinian MOFAE condemned the Israeli occupation forces’ incursion into the town of Sebastia, which resulted in the injury of more than 20 Palestinians. It warned against an Israeli plan to control Palestinian archaeological sites and called on UNESCO to fulfill its responsibilities in this regard. (July 14, 2023). For further details, click here

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

• Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has agreed with police on a new policy toward “civilians” who shoot “terrorists” during attacks whereby their weapons will not be confiscated and they will not be interrogated under caution. (July 8, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Israeli Finance Minister and National Security Minister respond to the US President Biden: “Jews have the right to build settlements everywhere in the West Bank.” (July 10, 2023). For further details, click here
• Israel News “Haaretz” published a new settlement plan by the Israel’s Justice Ministry to build 450 housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem, in the heart of a 12-donum Palestinian residential area. (July 11, 2023). For further details, click here

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

• S President Biden affirms his continuous belief that a two-state solution was the correct path forward in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. He also criticized some members of Netanyahu’s cabinet for their views on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. (July 10, 2023). For further details, click here
• In a new report, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese says Israeli policies have criminalized ordinary acts of life. She further stated that the Israeli military occupation has turned the entire occupied Palestinian land into an open-air prison. The report calls on countries to fulfill their obligations by refraining from assisting or recognizing Israeli settlement occupation and to employ all diplomatic, political, and economic measures to end the occupation. (July 11, 2023). For further details, click here
• In its address to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Arab League condemns the Israeli occupation’s confiscation of Palestinian lands, demolition of homes and properties, and the theft of natural resources. It highlights that these actions are part of Israel’s policy of annexation and colonial expansion. (July 11, 2023). For further details, click here
• The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs publishes a report mentioning that 40% of households in Jenin Refugee Camp are still relying on trucked water due to the damage of the distribution pipelines in their neighborhoods. Humanitarian responses are currently focused on fixing essential infrastructure and resuming essential services, the provision of health care, and the provision of cash assistance to displaced families, among others. (July 11, 2023). For further details, click here
• In his speech before the European Parliament, High Representative Josep Borrell expressed his concern about the deteriorating situation in the Palestinian territories. He emphasized the importance of resuming security cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and Israel and the necessity of a political solution. He also emphasized the need to enhance financial and political relations with the Palestinian Authority. (July 11, 2023). For further details, click here
• United States Representative Ilhan Omar, alongside other MPs, announced boycotting Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s speech before the Congress in protest against the violations committed by Israel against the Palestinians. (July 13, 2023).
• Ireland’s Sinn Féin foreign affairs party speaker, Matt Carthy, calls on the Irish government to take meaningful measures to exert international pressure on Israel to end its unlawful practices in Palestine. He urged the government to officially recognize the State of Palestine. (July 13, 2023). For further details, click here
• The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned the Israeli occupation forces seizure of the house of the Sub Laban family in the occupied city of Jerusalem, and affirmed that all these Israeli measures are null and void under international law. (July 11, 2023) For further details, click here / here
• UN experts: The forced eviction and displacement of the Ghaith-Sub Laban family and many other Palestinian families in east Jerusalem may amount to a war crime of forcible transfer and must be immediately reversed. (July 12, 2023). For further details, click here

Publications of human rights NGOs:

• New research by “Save the Children”: Palestinian children in the Israeli military detention system face physical and emotional abuse, with four out of five (86%) of them being beaten, and 69% strip-searched. (July 10, 2023). For further details, click here
• French associations urge French directors Claire Deny and Florian Zeller, future president and member of the jury of the Israeli “Jerusalem Film Festival”, to withdraw from the event and publicly condemn the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation authorities. (July 13, 2023). For further details, click here 
• PeaceNow reports that during the first half of 2023 the Israeli government promoted 12,855 housing units in the West Bank, of which 9,805 were for deposit and 3,500 for validation. This is a record number of housing units in the West Bank, also on an annual scale. (July 13, 2023). For further details, click here
• Diakona International Human Rights Centre published an article titled: Excessive Force: A Legal Analysis of Israel’s Operation in Jenin Refugee Camp. (July 13, 2023). For further details, click here

Upcoming human rights opportunities and events:

• The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has announced its intention to hold a virtual event titled “Biden Administration and the Middle East”. For further details, click here
• The United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, in collaboration with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, announced its intention to hold a virtual event titled, “The Impact of Settlement Policies on the Palestinian Population in Jerusalem.”. For further details, click here