\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThis\u00a0is yet another step by the Israeli authorities towards rendering a viable Palestinian State impossible<\/strong>, in violation of the Palestinian people\u2019s right to self-determination,\u201d\u00a0he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n He warned that if\u00a0implemented, the\u00a0decisions\u00a0\u201cwill undoubtedly accelerate the dispossession of Palestinians and their forcible transfer, and\u00a0lead to the creation of more illegal Israeli settlements<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n This\u00a0in turn \u201cwill also further deprive Palestinians of their natural resources and restrict their enjoyment of other human rights.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n On 8 February, the\u00a0Israeli security cabinet approved a package of measures that would\u00a0increase\u00a0Israeli civilian authority in\u00a0Areas A and B of the West Bank, which\u00a0together constitute roughly\u00a040 per cent of the territory.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some\u00a0of these powers fall under the competence of the Palestinian Authority, according to the Oslo\u00a0Accords \u2013 twin peace agreements signed by Israeli and Palestinian leadership in the 1990s.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The measures would\u00a0change the law to allow Israeli authorities and individuals to\u00a0acquire\u00a0land in\u00a0Areas A and B,\u00a0violating\u00a0the law of occupation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis will further cement Israel’s control and integration of the occupied West Bank into Israel, consolidating unlawful annexation,\u201d\u00a0Mr.\u00a0T\u00fcrk said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The decisions\u00a0also strip the Palestinian Authority of its planning and building powers<\/strong>\u00a0in parts of Hebron\u00a0in the southern part of the West Bank, including the Ibrahimi Mosque\u00a0\u2013\u00a0known to Jews as the\u00a0Cave of the Patriarchs\u00a0and a holy site for Islam, Judaism and Christianity.\u00a0<\/p>\n Israel\u00a0would also\u00a0establish\u00a0administrative control over\u00a0another holy site,\u00a0Rachel\u2019s Tomb in Bethlehem,\u00a0to accelerate settlement expansion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cThis not only violates the land rights of Palestinians, but also their cultural rights in respect of sites of particular significance,\u201d the rights chief said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mr.\u00a0T\u00fcrk\u00a0noted that\u00a0the new\u00a0measures come amid a wider context of increasing attacks by Israeli settlers and security forces against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, forcible transfers, evictions, home demolitions, land grabs, and movement restrictions, among other\u00a0documented\u00a0violations.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are witnessing rapid steps to change permanently the demography of the occupied Palestinian territory, stripping its people of their lands and forcing them to leave,\u201d\u00a0he\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\nAcquiring\u00a0more land<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Cultural rights\u00a0violated<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n
\u2018Decisions must be overturned\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n