On 30 March each year, Palestinians commemorate Land Day, the day on which Israeli forces in 1976 killed six Palestinian citizens of Israel and wounded and arrested hundreds of others during protests against the government's expropriation of Palestinian lands in the Galilee. Land Day has become a symbol of Palestinians’ struggle against land confiscation, forced displacement and policies of Judaization on both sides of the Green Line, and is observed as a day of solidarity and remembrance, highlighting the enduring resilience of the Palestinian people in pursuit of their rights.

48 years on, Israeli policies of dislocation, dispossession and displacement persist relentlessly both in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). This year, Palestinians observe this anniversary amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza. 

Israel’s actions against the Palestinians in Gaza over the past five months constitute genocide. The Israeli military has waged a devastating war on Gaza which has claimed the lives of over 32,000 Palestinians – including 13,000 children - and forcibly displaced over 1.7 million people, most of whom were already refugees. Under incessant bombardment, the Israeli military has repeatedly ordered Palestinians to evacuate their homes and move to southern Gaza, with apparent plans to drive them out of the territory. From the very beginning, in October 2023, Adalah, together with Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, demanded that Israel immediately halt this plan.

Israel has imposed a tight siege on Gaza, cutting it off from food, water, electricity, and fuel, creating a devastating humanitarian crisis, and looming famine. Five human rights organizations, including Adalah, filed a petition on 18 March 2024 to the Israeli Supreme Court demanding full access of all humanitarian aid to Gaza, the opening of land crossings, and the provision of all the needs of the civilian population, as the occupying power. 

Further, for decades, Israel has seized the sovereign natural resources of the Palestinian people, and amidst its war on Gaza, the Israeli Ministry of Energy announced in October 2023 that it has awarded licenses to six Israeli and international companies to explore for natural gas off Gaza’s coast, in Palestinian maritime areas under international law. Together with leading Palestinian human rights groups, Adalah challenged the illegal Israeli gas exploration licenses off Gaza’s coast, demanding to revoke the tenders, which violate international law. 

On 26 January 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found South Africa’s contention that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza to be plausible, and ordered provisional measures to ensure that the military does not commit genocidal acts. On 6 March 2024, South Africa submitted a request to the ICJ to urgently act to prevent famine in Gaza, and to indicate further measures due to Israel’s “ongoing manifest violations of the provisional measures” previously indicated by the court.

Israel continues to perpetrate the crime of apartheid as it moves forward with plans to forcibly displace Bedouin residents from their lands and homes in the Naqab. In July 2023, an Israeli court ruled that all 500 residents of Ras Jrabah, a village that predates the state’s establishment, must evacuate and demolish their homes by March 2024 and pay NIS 117,000 (≈ USD $32,000) to cover legal expenses. Adalah is representing the villagers and has appealed this decision. On 30 January 2024, the Be'er Sheva District Court granted Adalah's motion to freeze the demolition and eviction orders until the appeal is decided, despite the state’s strong opposition, and postponed the payment of most expenses. A hearing on the appeal is set for 29 May 2024. 

Further, in 2022, the Israel Land Authority filed 18 eviction lawsuits against 290 residents of Al-Bqea’ah, another unrecognized village facing displacement, presenting them as “trespassers'' on the land. No alleged public need to displace them has been put forward by the state. Adalah, together with Meezaan organization, are representing the residents against the state-issued eviction orders and displacement lawsuits. The organizations submitted evidence in many cases, which included residents’ affidavits, and expert opinions of urban planners which analyze aerial photos of the area and suggest alternative planning solutions. At a hearing held in December 2023, the judge stated that the state cannot continue to treat the residents as trespassers, while also clarifying that according to previous legal precedents, the state still can evict them. Based on this, the judge asked the parties to reach a solution, yet the state was unwilling to consider any alternatives to the displacement of the village. This month, Adalah and Meezan submitted closing arguments in this case. 

The far-right Israeli government has accelerated policies to entrench Jewish settlements and solidify its control and annexation of the occupied West Bank. One significant step taken was the passage of an amendment to the Basic Law: The Government that allowed the appointment of Religious Zionist Party Chairman Bezalel Smotrich as an additional minister in the Ministry of Defense. The amendment enables the pursuit of the coalition’s goals of the "regularization" of settlements and outposts, military legislation that will essentially apply Israeli laws to Israeli-Jewish settlers only in the West Bank, and more. 

Following this appointment, Smotrich assumed responsibility for the Unit for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) and the Civil Administration in the West Bank. On 25 March 2024, Adalah sent a letter to Smotrich, the Defense Minister, the AG, and others demanding the cancellation of the “document of understanding and division of responsibilities and powers between the Minister of Defense and the additional minister in the Ministry of Defense" which was signed in February 2023, and all the steps taken and the decisions made based on it. Adalah argued that the agreement deepens the violations of international law, including: the perpetration of war crimes by establishing settlements in OPT; crimes against humanity (Apartheid) by the de facto application of Israeli laws to Israeli settlers in the West Bank; and crimes of aggression through de facto annexation, while violating the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.