On 9 June, the Israeli Supreme Court struck down Israel's Settlements Regularization Law. This law permitted Israel to expropriate private Palestinian lands in the West Bank and to retroactively “legalize” the Israeli settlements built on these lands. As of 2016, Israel had constructed 3,455 buildings for settlements on privately-owned Palestinian land in the West Bank.
Israel enacted the law in February 2017, and Adalah moved fast.
Adalah's attorneys Suhad Bishara, Hassan Jabareen, and Myssana Morany, together with attorney Suleiman Shaheen of the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and 17 Palestinian local authorities in the West Bank petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court against the law, demanding its cancellation - and we won!
Click on this image to read Adalah's full analysis of the Israeli Supreme Court ruling.
We view the court's decision as a major achievement against Israel's looming threat to annex large swaths of the occupied West Bank.
The rulings regarding the temporary nature of the occupation and the relevant legal framework, issues of the Knesset's authority to impose laws on Palestinians in the West Bank, and the recognition of Palestinians as "protected persons" should all pose legal barriers to impending proposed annexation laws.
Despite this positive outcome, however, Israel's top court also left open several windows for future confiscations of Palestinian land for settlement construction. Read Adalah's initial assessment of the Supreme Court's decision to find out more.
Click on this image in order to view detailed imagery of Israeli settlement construction on private Palestinian property in the West Bank.
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