Alwaght- Israel is pursuing “complete control” over "the Occupied Palestinian Territory," including East al-Quds, which was taken by Tel Aviv regime in a 1967 war and later annexed in a move never recognized by the international community, an independent commission of inquiry set up by the UN Human Rights Council reported on Tuesday.
According to the commission, the Israeli regime has been “acting to alter the demography through the maintenance of a repressive environment for Palestinians and a favorable environment for Israeli settlers”.
Citing an Israeli law denying naturalization to Palestinians married to Israeli citizens, the report blamed Tel Aviv for affording “different civil status, rights and legal protection” for Palestinians.
The report cited evidence that Israel has “no intention of ending the occupation”.
More than 700,000 Israeli settlers now live in illegal settlements and outposts across the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds, which is home to more than three million Palestinians.
Leading human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have equated Israeli policies against Palestinians to apartheid.
The inquiry’s mandate included investigation of human rights abuses before and after Israel’s onslaught against Gaza in May 2021 during which more than 260 Palestinians in Gaza were killed and sought to also investigate the “root causes” of the conflict.
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Hamas resistance movement welcomed the report and urged the prosecution of Tel Aviv Authorities in “crimes” against the Palestinian people.
The Palestinian Authority, too, praised the report and called for accountability “in a manner that puts an end to Israel’s impunity”.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the report “a waste of money and effort” that amounted to a witch-hunt.
Israel boycotted the inquiry, accusing it of bias and barred entry to its investigators to Israel and Palestinian territories, leading investigators to collect testimonies from Geneva and Jordan.
The report will be discussed at the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council next week. The United States quit the Council in 2018 over what it described as its “chronic bias” against Israel and only fully rejoined this year.
The commission, headed by former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, and is the first to have an “ongoing” mandate from the UN rights body.
Proponents say the commission is needed to keep tabs on persistent injustices faced by Palestinians under decades of Israeli occupation.
