UN Security Council Resolution 446
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United Nations Security Council Resolution 446 concerned the issue of Israeli settlements in the "Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem".Template:Ref This refers to the Palestinian territories of the West Bank including East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights.
In the Resolution, the Security Council determined: "that the policy and practices of Israel in establishing settlements in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967 have no legal validity and constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East"
The Resolution was adopted on March 22, 1979 at the 2134th meeting by 12 votes to none, with 3 abstentions (Norway, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America).
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UNSC Resolution 446 and the Fourth Geneva Convention
Resolution 446 affirms "once more that the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 is applicable to the Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem". Tomis Kapitan reports that:
- In the eyes of the world community, its [Israel's] presence there [in the Occupied Territories] is subject to international law dealing with belligerent occupancy, specifically, the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949... Allowing for measures of military necessity, the Convention forbids alterations of the legal system, forcible transfer or deportation of the resident population, and resettlement by the occupying power of its own civilian population within the occupied territory. Israel has violated these provisions, but contested their application on the grounds that the West Bank (in particular) is "disputed" or "unallocated" rather than the occupied territory of a nation that is party to the Geneva Convention.Template:Ref
Israel's argument against the applicability of the Convention was formulated by Meir Shamgar and is based on an interpretation of Article 2, which reads:
- In addition to the provisions which shall be implemented in peace-time, the present Convention shall apply to all cases of declared war or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is not recognized by one of them.
- The Convention shall also apply to all cases of partial or total occupation of the territory of a High Contracting Party, even if the said occupation meets with no armed resistance.Template:Ref
The government's argument (first made by Moshe Dayan in a speech to the UN in 1977) is that neither the West Bank nor Gaza were the territory of a "High Contracting Power" at the time they were occupied by Israel and that therefore the Convention does not apply.Template:Ref Template:Ref
Israel's position has not been accepted by the International Committee of the Red Cross, nor has it been endorsed by the other High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention. Article 1 of the Convention states that "The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances" (emphasis added).Template:Ref Template:Ref
On 15 July 1999 a conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention met at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva. It ruled that the Convention did apply in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem.Template:Ref In 2001, at a one-day conference of High Contracting Parties, 114 countries adopted a three-page declaration re-affirming that the terms of the Convention applied to the Palestinian territories.Template:Ref
In August 2004 an Israeli justice ministry team set up by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to study the ramifications of a ruling by the World CourtTemplate:Ref recommended that the Israeli government should consider applying the Fourth Geneva Convention to the West Bank and Gaza.Template:Ref
Unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip
Israel left the Gaza Strip in September 2005, and removed all of the settlements and military forces that were in it. The West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights remain occupied by Israel as of February 2006.
Footnotes
- Template:Note UNSC 446.
- Template:Note Kapitan, 1997, p. 28.
- Template:Note Kretzmer, 2002, p. 33.
- Template:Note Kretzmer, 2002, p. 34.
- Template:Note Hajjar, 2005, p. 54.
- Template:Note Kassim, 1988, p. 112.
- Template:Note Takkenberg, 1998, p. 214.
- Template:Note United Nations, 2002, p. 421; p. 437.
- Template:Note Israel castigated for 'rights abuses'.
- Template:Note UN rules against Israeli barrier.
- Template:Note Consider Geneva pact, Israel told.
References
- Hajjar, Lisa (2005). Courting Conflict: The Israeli Military Court System in the West Bank and Gaza. University of California Press. ISBN 0520241940
- Kassim, A F (1988). The Palestine Yearbook of International Law 1987-1988. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 9041103414
- Kapitan, Tomis (1997). Philosophical Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. M. E. Sharpe. ISBN 1563248786
- Kretzmer, David (2002). The Occupation of Justice: The Supreme Court of Israel and the Occupied Territories. SUNY Press. ISBN 0791453375
- Takkenberg, Alex (1998). The Status of Palestinian Refugees in International Law. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198265905
- United Nations (2002). Yearbook of the United Nations, 2000. United Nations Publications. ISBN 9211008573
See also
- International law and the Arab-Israeli conflict
- Israeli-occupied territories
- Israeli settlement
- Israeli West Bank barrier
- Palestinian territories
- Rule of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Jordan
- Status of territories captured by Israel
