International law dictates that military occupation is an inherently temporary situation, and its prolonged, indefinite duration raises significant legal concerns, potentially leading to its classification as unlawful. While no specific maximum time limit is universally defined, the core principles of international law, especially international humanitarian law (IHL) and the right to self-determination, treat a long-overdue occupation as a violation of fundamental norms.
A key principle is that the occupying power does not acquire sovereignty over the territory, but merely exercises temporary administrative control. The purpose is to act as a de facto administrator until control can be returned to the sovereign power, ideally as soon as possible, but that has never been the intention of the Israeli belligerent. However, the role the Israeli belligerent is resorting to is that of taking the sovereignty that the Palestinian Authority has over the West Bank.
Therefore, the acquisition of territory by force is strictly prohibited under the UN Charter and customary international law. A prolonged occupation that seeks to make permanent changes to the territory or effectively annex it (de jure or de facto) is a serious breach of international law.
- Please take note that dates refer to the day when a video or photo was published on the account of a social media user, where it was found.
- Credit: photographers, videographers, reporters, and journalists in the West Bank, news agencies, and other sources.
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- Parent Category: DEMOGRAPHIC ALTERATION
- Category: Illegal transfer of own people
20240627 - news - Smotrich vows new settlement for every unilateral recognition of Palestine
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- Parent Category: WAR CRIMES
- Category: Abduction
20251110 - unknown place, occupied West Bank - Surveillance camera records Israeli troops abducting Palestinians
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- Parent Category: WAR CRIMES
- Category: Terrorism by occupying forces
20251110 - Beita, south of Nablus - Israeli army bulldozer continues uprooting olive trees and leveling land
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- Parent Category: OPPRESSION
- Category: Illegal laws
20251110 - illegal law - Knesset passes bill Ben Gvir easing the arrest of Palestinians over social media posts
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- Parent Category: WAR CRIMES
- Category: Suspects
20251110 - Itamar Ben-Gvir celebrated the preliminary vote on the law to execute kidnapped Palestinian prisoners
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- Parent Category: WAR CRIMES
- Category: Injuring or killing of occupied civilians
20251109 - Al-Far'a refugee camp, occupied West Bank - Funeral of Palestinian youth Abdelrahman Darawsha killed by Israeli occupation troops
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- Parent Category: DEMOGRAPHIC ALTERATION
- Category: Forced eviction
20251109 - Silwan, occupied Jerusalem - Israeli occupation forces forcibly evicting Palestinian elderly woman Umm Zuhri Shweikifrom her home in Batn al-Hawa
- Details
- Parent Category: DEMOGRAPHIC ALTERATION
- Category: Forced eviction
20251109 - Silwan, occupied Jerusalem - Israeli occupation forces forcibly evicting Palestinian elderly woman Umm Zuhri Shweikifrom her home in Batn al-Hawa
- Details
- Parent Category: DEMOGRAPHIC ALTERATION
- Category: Forced eviction
20251109 - Silwan, occupied Jerusalem - Israeli occupation forces forcibly evicting Palestinian elderly woman Umm Zuhri Shweikifrom her home in Batn al-Hawa