The West Bank: what occupation?
This article questions the situation in the West Bank as being under occupation.
November 13, 2025
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INTRODUCTION The Israelis, in particular the hardcore ones, call the West Bank Judea and Samaria. Both names are no longer accurate, as the history the Israelis want you to focus on has been transitioned into thousands of years of Roman, Muslim and Ottoman ruling until the British took it from the last Ottoman sultan, and European Zionists took it from the British. So, at the end of the cycle, the land became inhabited by foreigners and remained inhabited by foreigners, even today, as at least 60,000 of these foreigners in the West Bank are Americans. BACKGROUND The first settlement was Kfar Etzion, in the southern West Bank, although that location was outside the Allon Plan. Many settlements began as Nahal settlements. They were established as military outposts and later expanded and populated with civilian inhabitants, which was the first illegal transfer of their own people into the occupied territory.
OCCUPATION
The international legal definition of an occupied territory is the "territory actually placed under the authority of the hostile army," which comes from Article 42 of the 1907 Hague Regulations. This means that the West Bank is supposed to be occupied when it is under the control of the hostile armed forces of the Israeli entity, even if it does not encounter armed resistance. The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised.
As an occupation force, the Israeli entity is the administrator of the West Bank, which means that it is a foreign belligerent exercising effective control over the territory. The Israelis, then, are responsible for maintaining law and order and for the general governance of the area and its population. This includes obligations to restore and maintain public life, meet the basic needs of the population, and respect the laws already in force unless absolutely prevented from doing so. International law considers military occupation a temporary state, not a permanent acquisition of territory. While it doesn't set a strict time limit, it mandates that the occupying power must administer the territory as a trustee, to preserve the status quo until control is returned to the original sovereign. Prolonged occupation can be assessed against other rules of international law, such as the prohibition against the threat or use of force, which may render the continued presence illegal over time. The latter is the case, as the presence of both armed forces and civilians of the Israeli entity, and even foreigners in the West Bank has been for nearly 60 years, which exceeds what is considered temporary.
ACQUISITION The Israeli entity has been and is still resorting to seeking ways to expand its permanent presence. Whether it is by political desire, retaliatory and or punitive measures, the Israeli belligerent has made numerous announcements to build what are called "new settlements." However, each time one needs any part of the West Bank to prepare that section of land for the construction of a "settlement". That is appropriating such a section of land. Preparing that piece of land for their own people is by removing existing Palestinian structures and objects to replace them with structures and objects of their own. These activities amount to altering the original landscape and a way to erase the identity of the Palestinians. Both are forbidden by international law. Outposts set up by illegally transferred people are makeshift camps, mostly consisting of caravans or prefab housing units, and are meant to send the message that a new "settlement" should be built there. These camps are seldom declared by the belligerent as unlawful. These activities are the basis from which "settlements" emerge. The so-called "settlements" are always connected by (makeshift) roads, which are only for those who have been illegally transferred into the West Bank. These roads are both a form of partitioning and a deprivation in the freedom of movement for the 'occupied' people.
LEGITIMACY The way the Israelis illegally acquire territories in the West Bank is by irreversible altering the Palestinian landscape into theirs. International law prohibits altering the landscape in "occupied" territory through measures that change its demographic composition, character, or status, except when required by imperative military necessity. This prohibition includes actions such as the illegal establishment of colonies, the exploitation of natural resources, and the destruction of the natural environment or cultural heritage. All countries have the obligation not to recognize or assist in these unlawful changes, and the "occupying" belligerent must administer immovable property in accordance with the rule of usufruct and respect private property.
First, the Israeli belligerent has never acted as the administrator. Its military activities are not meant to maintain public order but to create disorder to have an excuse to justify its activities. Ensuring safety and security is only for those who the belligerent illegally transferred into the West Bank. Bringing measures to practice that only benefit its own people is a war crime. It grossly disrespects properties belonging to the people it is oppressing and suppressing. It grossly destroys resources on which the Palestinians rely to survive. This all is at least illegal occupation and the Israeli belligerent illegal occupants.
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