The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Michael Lynk, called on the international community to call out the illegal building of Israeli settlements devouring Palestinian lands a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Lynk said that “[a]mong the expressly listed war crimes in the Rome Statute is the transfer, directly or indirectly, by an occupying power of parts of its own population into the territory it occupies.” He also stated that Israeli settlements are the engine of the 54-year-old Israeli occupation, the longest in the modern world. Lynk stressed that the illegality of the settlements is once more reaffirmed by all international forums, including the Security Council, calling for the implementation of Security Council Resolution No. 2334 of 2016, regarding the cessation of occupation and settlement activities. For further details, click here