Violations: Rules of Belligerent Occupation

On this page, we clarify why violation of the Rules Of Belligerent Occupation in the West Bank contains war crimes and crimes against humanity INTRODUCTION In the West Bank, there is military occupation, but by a civilian leadership seated in a part of a territory that has been colonized since May 1948. Governed by international humanitarian law (IHL), occupation is supposed to be a temporary situation with the goal of eventually restoring control to the original sovereign. However, in the West Bank, there is no occupation but the permanent hostile, effective control by a foreign power, over a territory that is not its own sovereign territory, but seeks to gain sovereignty over it.

acts of war	Acts of war constitute to war crimes because the armed occupying belligerent has been documented for committing terrorism, taking occupied civilians as hostages, torturing civilians, and plundering property.
acts of war > airstrikes	Airstrikes are a war crime as they violate the principles of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), because Israelis attack occupied civilians and destroy non-military objects. The status of occupying power doesn't change these fundamental rules, but it imposes additional responsibilities on the occupying force to protect the civilian population and their property.
annexation	Annexation is a war crime as it is about the permanent continuation of the now illegal Israeli occupation because it violates fundamental principles of international law, specifically the prohibition of the use of force, the right to self-determination of peoples, and the principle of non-acquisition of territory by force. While an occupation is a temporary state with specific rules for the occupying power, the annexation by the Israelis is to permanently acquire territory, thereby extinguishing the occupied state's sovereignty. Annexation of the West Bank includes, outposts to designate the location of new colonies; piece(s) of land designated to build new colonies; construction of roads designated only for the use by illegally transferred people, which also hallmark partitioning of the West Bank.
apartheid	This practice is recognized as both a war crime and a crime against humanity under international law, regardless of occupation. International humanitarian law, specifically Article 85(4)(c) of Additional Protocol I (API) to the Geneva Conventions, explicitly lists "practices of apartheid" as a grave breach. It is also a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Construction of roads but designated only for illegally transferred people; the construction of separation walls; a judicial system for their own people and a juridical system for the occupied people, they all are methods in the practice of apartheid.
crackdown on resistance against Israeli violations of these rules	A violent crackdown on protests by the occupied civilian population, and committed by the Israeli occupying belligerent is a war crime, as it violates international humanitarian law, such as by using excessive force, targeting protected persons, and employing prohibited tactics like collective punishments or terrorism. While the Israeli occupying belligerent have the right to maintain order, not maintaining "security" to protect illegally transferred people, their actions are strictly limited, and any act of violence against the occupied civilian population that is disproportionate, unnecessary, or a violation of their fundamental rights, and constitute a war crime.
forced eviction	In the West Bank, forced evictions constitute the war crime of unlawful transfer, and is committed in the context of a systematic attack directed against the occupied civilian population, therefore constitute the crime against humanity of forcible transfer.
illegal transfer & colonization	Transferring a part of the occupying power's own civilian population into the occupied territory is a war crime under international law because it constitutes a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, aims to change the occupied territory's demographic composition and permanence of occupation, and undermines the rights and safety of the protected civilian population in that territory. This act is a form of ethnic cleansing, prohibited by customary international law and codified in the Fourth Geneva Convention, which explicitly forbids such transfers by an occupying power.
inciting, fueling and calling for destruction	Incitement to destroy is a crime under international law which prohibits inciting (encouraging) the commission of destruction. An extreme form of hate speech, incitement to destroy is an inchoate offense and is theoretically subject to prosecution even if destruction does not occur, although charges have never been brought in an international court without mass violence having occurred. "Direct and public incitement to resort to destruction" was forbidden by the Genocide Convention in 1948. Incitement to destruction is often cloaked in metaphor and euphemism and may take many forms beyond direct advocacy, including dehumanization and accusation in a mirror.
restricting freedom of movement	Restricting the freedom of movement of civilians by forced displacement is a war crime under international humanitarian law (IHL) and can be prosecuted under the Rome Statute. While not all restrictions are illegal, forcible transfer or deportation of the civilian population by the Israelis is prohibited. The monitoring and the documentation could not find any justification that allows limited exceptions for security, as the latter concerns the protection of own illegally transferred people while no imperative military reason exist. Restriction of the freedom of movement against the occupied people is by mentioned methods in the practice of apartheid; as a retaliatory measure in response to resistance, therefore a violation of IHL and constitutes a war crime. Closing roads with sand piles or erecting heavy metal fences, especially to prevent residents of a gated community, village or town from leaving their residential area, are forms of restriction of freedom of movement.
targeting and or destroying properties	Targeting and destroying non-military property is a war crime because international humanitarian law protects civilian objects and property. Extensive destruction of property, unless justified by military necessity, is also explicitly prohibited and considered a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a war crime, especially in occupied territories. This prohibition exists to protect the civilian population, their history, and their way of life, and includes prohibitions against attacks on cultural property, foodstuffs, and installations vital to civilian survival.
burning, looting, plunder and vandalism	Burning, looting, plunder, and vandalism are considered war crimes because they involve the unlawful and willful destruction or appropriation of property, often without military necessity, and are prohibited by international humanitarian law (IHL) under agreements like the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. These actions harm civilians and public order, violate the principle of respecting private and public property, and undermine the values of an ordered society that international law seeks to uphold even during conflict.

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Violations in the West Bank