Israel

===Israeli-occupied territories===
{{Main|Israeli-occupied territories|Israeli occupation of the West Bank|Golan Heights}}
<!---As prose text is preferred overly detailed data charts and diagrams such as weather data boxes, population charts and past elections results etc should be reserved for main sub articles on the topic as per WP:DETAIL.--->
{{Administration in the Palestine region}}
{{Israeli occupations navbox}}
[[File:Map of Israel, neighbours and occupied territories.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Map of Israel showing the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights]]
In 1967, as a result of the [[Six-Day War]], Israel captured and [[Israeli-occupied territories|occupied]] the [[West Bank]], including [[East Jerusalem]], the [[Gaza Strip]] and the [[Golan Heights]]. Israel also captured the [[Sinai Peninsula]], but returned it to Egypt as part of the 1979 [[Egypt–Israel peace treaty]].{{sfn|Bregman|2002|pp=186–187}} Between 1982 and 2000, Israel occupied [[Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon|part of southern Lebanon]], in what was known as the [[South Lebanon Security Belt|Security Belt]]. Since Israel's capture of these territories, [[Israeli settlement]]s and military installations have been built within each of them, except Lebanon.

The [[Golan Heights Law|Golan Heights]] and [[Jerusalem Law|East Jerusalem]] have been fully incorporated into Israel under Israeli law, but not under international law. Israel has applied civilian law to both areas and granted their inhabitants permanent residency status and the ability to [[Israeli nationality law|apply for citizenship]]. The UN Security Council has declared the annexation of the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem to be "null and void" and continues to view the territories as occupied.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/73D6B4C70D1A92B7852560DF0064F101 |title=Resolution 497 (1981) |year=1981 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=20 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612120152/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/73D6B4C70D1A92B7852560DF0064F101 |archive-date=12 June 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/dde590c6ff232007852560df0065fddb?OpenDocument |title=East Jerusalem: UNSC Res. 478 |year=1980 |publisher=UN |access-date=10 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101231090053/http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/dde590c6ff232007852560df0065fddb?OpenDocument |archive-date=31 December 2010 }}</ref> The [[Positions on Jerusalem|status]] of East Jerusalem in any future peace settlement has at times been a difficult issue in [[Israeli–Palestinian peace process|negotiations]] between Israeli governments and representatives of the Palestinians.

[[File:West_Bank_Fence_South_Hebron.JPG|thumb|[[Israeli West Bank barrier]] is a separation barrier built by Israel along the Green Line and inside parts of the West Bank.]]
The West Bank excluding East Jerusalem is known in Israeli law as the [[Judea and Samaria Area]]; the almost 400,000 Israeli settlers residing in the area are considered part of Israel's population, have Knesset representation and are subject to a [[Enclave law|large part of Israel's civil and criminal laws]], and their output is considered part of Israel's economy.<ref name=Sher>Gilead Sher, [http://www.inss.org.il/publication/the-application-of-israeli-law-to-the-west-bank-de-facto-annexation/ The Application of Israeli Law to the West Bank: De Facto Annexation?], INSS Insight No. 638, 4 December 2014</ref>{{refn|group=fn|name=oecd|Israeli population and economic data covers the economic territory of Israel, including the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank.{{sfn|OECD|2011}}<ref>[http://mas.ps/files/server/20141911093442-1.pdf ''Quarterly Economic and Social Monitor''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009161737/http://mas.ps/files/server/20141911093442-1.pdf |date=9 October 2021 }}, Volume 26, October 2011, p. 57: "When Israel bid in March 2010 for membership in the 'Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development'... some members questioned the accuracy of Israeli statistics, as the Israeli figures (relating to gross domestic product, spending and number of the population) cover geographical areas that the Organization does not recognize as part of the Israeli territory. These areas include East Jerusalem, Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Golan Heights."</ref>}} The land itself is not considered part of Israel under Israeli law, as Israel has consciously refrained from annexing the territory, without ever relinquishing its legal claim to the land or defining a border.<ref name=Sher/> Israeli political opposition to annexation is primarily due to the perceived "demographic threat" of incorporating the West Bank's Palestinian population into Israel.<ref name=Sher/> Outside of the Israeli settlements, the West Bank remains under direct Israeli military rule, and Palestinians in the area cannot become Israeli citizens. The international community maintains that Israel does not have sovereignty in the West Bank, and considers Israel's control of the area to be the longest military occupation in modern history.<ref name="occhist">See for example:<br />* {{cite book |title=Courting Conflict: The Israeli Military Court System in the West Bank and Gaza |last=Hajjar |first=Lisa |publisher=University of California Press |date=2005 |isbn=978-0-520-24194-7 |page=96 |url={{Google books|mcjoHq2wqdUC|page=PA96|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} |quote=The Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is the longest military occupation in modern times.}}<br />* {{cite journal |first=Perry |last=Anderson |author-link=Perry Anderson |title=Editorial: Scurrying Towards Bethlehem |date=July–August 2001 |journal=New Left Review|volume=10 |url=https://newleftreview.org/article/download_pdf?id=2330 |quote=longest official military occupation of modern history—currently entering its thirty-fifth year|access-date=9 January 2015|archive-date=1 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001124430/https://newleftreview.org/article/download_pdf?id=2330}}<br />* {{cite book |first=Saree |last=Makdisi|author-link=Saree Makdisi|url={{Google books|2dBM3Ago2BAC|page=PA299|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} |quote=longest-lasting military occupation of the modern age|title=Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|date=2010 |isbn=978-0-393-33844-7}}<br />* {{cite journal |volume=94|issue=885|date=Spring 2012|journal=International Review of the Red Cross|title=The law of belligerent occupation in the Supreme Court of Israel |first=David|last=Kretzmer|author-link=David Kretzmer |doi=10.1017/S1816383112000446|url=https://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/review/2012/irrc-885-kretzmer.pdf |quote=This is probably the longest occupation in modern international relations, and it holds a central place in all literature on the law of belligerent occupation since the early 1970s|pages=207–236|s2cid=32105258}}<br />* {{cite news|title=The Justice of Occupation|quote=Israel is the only modern state that has held territories under military occupation for over four decades|type=opinion|first=Ra'anan |last=Alexandrowicz|date=24 January 2012|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/opinion/the-justice-of-occupation.html}}<br />* {{cite book|title=The Role of National Courts in Applying International Humanitarian Law |first=Sharon |last=Weill |url={{Google books|bDnnAgAAQBAJ|page=PA22|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} |page=22 |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-968542-4 |quote=Although the basic philosophy behind the law of military occupation is that it is a temporary situation modem occupations have well demonstrated that ''rien ne dure comme le provisoire'' A significant number of post-1945 occupations have lasted more than two decades such as the occupations of Namibia by South Africa and of East Timor by Indonesia as well as the ongoing occupations of Northern Cyprus by Turkey and of Western Sahara by Morocco. The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, {{underline|which is the longest in all occupation's history}} has already entered its fifth decade.}}<br />* Azarova, Valentina. 2017, [http://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/israels_unlawfully_prolonged_occupation_7294 Israel's Unlawfully Prolonged Occupation: Consequences under an Integrated Legal Framework], European Council on Foreign Affairs Policy Brief: "June 2017 marks 50 years of Israel's belligerent occupation of Palestinian territory, making it the longest occupation in modern history."</ref> The West Bank [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|was occupied and annexed]] by Jordan in 1950, following the 1949 Armistice Agreements. Only Britain recognized this annexation and Jordan has since [[Jordanian disengagement from the West Bank|ceded]] its claim to the territory to the PLO. The [[Demographics of the Palestinian territories|population]] are mainly [[Palestinian people|Palestinians]], including [[Palestinian refugee|refugees]] of the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]].<ref>{{cite web |title=UNRWA in Figures: Figures as of 30 June 2009 |publisher=United Nations |date=June 2009 |url=http://www.unrwa.org/userfiles/uif-june09.pdf |access-date=27 September 2007 }}</ref> From their occupation in 1967 until 1993, the Palestinians living in these territories were under [[Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories|Israeli military administration]]. Since the [[Israel–Palestine Liberation Organization letters of recognition|Israel–PLO letters of recognition]], most of the Palestinian population and [[List of cities administered by the State of Palestine|cities]] have been under the internal jurisdiction of the [[Palestinian National Authority|Palestinian Authority]], and only partial Israeli military control, although Israel has redeployed its [[Israel Defense Forces|troops]] and reinstated full military administration during periods of unrest. In response to increasing attacks during the [[Second Intifada]], the Israeli government started to construct the Israeli West Bank barrier.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.securityfence.mod.gov.il/Pages/ENG/questions.htm |title=Questions and Answers |access-date=17 April 2007 |date=22 February 2004 |website=Israel's Security Fence |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003072906/http://www.securityfence.mod.gov.il/Pages/ENG/questions.htm |archive-date=3 October 2013 }}</ref> When completed, approximately 13% of the barrier will be constructed on the [[Green Line (Israel)|Green Line]] or in Israel with 87% inside the West Bank.<ref>{{cite web|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4875de625.html |title=Refworld {{pipe}} West Bank Barrier Route Projections, July 2008 |publisher=Unhcr.org |access-date=11 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.btselem.org/publications/summaries/200512_under_the_guise_of_security |title=Under the Guise of Security: Routing the Separation Barrier to Enable Israeli Settlement Expansion in the West Bank |access-date=20 March 2012 |date=December 2005 |website=Publications |publisher=B'Tselem}}</ref>

Israel's claim of universal suffrage has been questioned due to its blurred territorial boundaries and its simultaneous extension of voting rights to Israeli settlers in the occupied territories and denial of voting rights to their Palestinian neighbours, as well as the alleged [[ethnocracy|ethnocratic]] nature of the state.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Yiftachel, O. |date=1999 |title='Ethnocracy': The Politics of Judaizing Israel/Palestine |journal=Constellations |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=364–390 |doi=10.1111/1467-8675.00151 |quote=Israel's political structure and settlement activity have [...] in effect undermined the existence of universal suffrage (as Jewish settlers in the Occupied Territories can vote to the parliament that governs them, but their Palestinian neighbours cannot). |url=https://www.academia.edu/download/31054252/ethnocracy-yiftachel.pdf }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Ghanem, A. A. |author2=Rouhana, N. |author3=Yiftachel, O. |date=1998 |title=Questioning" ethnic democracy": A response to Sammy Smooha |journal=Israel Studies |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=253–267 |doi=10.2979/ISR.1998.3.2.253 |quote=settlers remain fully enfranchised Israeli citizens while their Palestinian neighbors have no voting rights and no impact on Israeli policies |jstor=30245721|s2cid=3524173}}</ref>

The Gaza Strip is considered to be a "foreign territory" under Israeli law; Israel, along with Egypt, operates a land, air, and sea [[blockade of the Gaza Strip]]. The Gaza Strip was occupied by Israel after 1967. In 2005, as part of [[Israel's unilateral disengagement plan]], Israel removed its settlers and forces from the territory, however, it continues to maintain [[Blockade of the Gaza Strip|control]] of its airspace and waters. The international community, including numerous international humanitarian organizations and bodies of the UN, consider Gaza to remain occupied.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/F0B7D1A3A8E7CF1985257552004F640E |title=Situation Report on the Humanitarian Situation in the Gaza Strip |publisher=Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |date=23 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612121839/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/F0B7D1A3A8E7CF1985257552004F640E |archive-date=12 June 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/report/palestine-report-131207.htm |title=The occupied Palestinian territories: Dignity Denied |publisher=International Committee of the Red Cross |date=13 December 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2013/country-chapters/israel-palestine |title=Israel/Palestine |chapter=World Report 2013: Israel/Palestine |year=2013 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date=13 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/AHRC1248.pdf|title=Human Rights in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories: Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict |publisher=United Nations Human Rights Council |date=15 September 2009 |page=85}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/093/2006/en/ |title=Israel/Occupied Territories: Road to nowhere |publisher=Amnesty International |date=1 December 2006 }}</ref> Following the [[Battle of Gaza (2007)|2007 Battle of Gaza]], when [[Governance of the Gaza Strip|Hamas assumed power in the Gaza Strip]],<ref name=gaza/> Israel tightened control of the Gaza crossings along [[Israel–Gaza barrier|its border]], as well as by sea and air, and prevented persons from entering and exiting except for isolated cases it deemed humanitarian.<ref name=gaza>{{cite web |url=http://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/gaza_status |title=The scope of Israeli control in the Gaza Strip |publisher=B'Tselem |access-date=20 March 2012}}</ref> Gaza has a [[Gaza–Egypt border|border with Egypt]], and an agreement between Israel, the European Union, and the PA governed how border crossing would take place.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/peace/mfadocuments/pages/agreed%20documents%20on%20movement%20and%20access%20from%20and%20to%20gaza%2015-nov-2005.aspx |title=Agreed documents on movement and access from and to Gaza |date=15 November 2005 |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |access-date=13 June 2013}}</ref> The application of democracy to its Palestinian citizens, and the selective application of Israeli democracy in the Israeli-controlled Palestinian territories, has been criticized.<ref name="Slater2020">{{cite book|author=Jerome Slater|title=Mythologies Without End: The US, Israel, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1917–2020|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yVAAEAAAQBAJ|date=1 October 2020|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-045909-3|page=15|quote=It is now clear that Israel is a true democracy in its broadest sense only for its Jewish citizens. The Arab-Israeli (or, as some prefer, the Palestinian-Israeli) peoples, roughly 20 percent of the total population of Israel its pre-1967 boundaries, are citizens and have voting rights, but they face political, economic, and social discrimination. And, of course, Israeli democracy is inapplicable to the nearly 4 million Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza, conquered by Israel in June 1967, who are occupied, repressed, and in many ways, directly and indirectly, effectively ruled by Israel.}}</ref><ref name="White2012">{{cite book|author=Ben White|title=Palestinians in Israel: Segregation, Discrimination and Democracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bp1PXwAACAAJ|date=15 January 2012|publisher=Pluto Press|isbn=978-0-7453-3228-4}}</ref>

====International opinion====
{{see also|Israeli war crimes|War crimes in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war}}
The [[International Court of Justice]] said, in its [[International law and the Arab–Israeli conflict#Ruling of the ICJ|2004 advisory opinion]] on the legality of the construction of the [[Israeli West Bank barrier]], that the lands captured by Israel in the Six-Day War, including East Jerusalem, are occupied territory, and further found that the construction of the wall within the occupied Palestinian territory to violate international law.<ref>{{cite news |title=Arabs will ask U.N. to seek razing of Israeli wall |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5400559/ |publisher=NBC News |date=9 July 2004 |access-date=9 February 2013}}</ref> Most negotiations relating to the territories have been on the basis of [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 242|UN Security Council Resolution 242]], which emphasizes "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war", and calls on Israel to withdraw from occupied territories in return for normalization of relations with Arab states ("[[Land for peace]]").<ref>{{cite news |title=Olmert: Willing to trade land for peace |work=Ynetnews |date =16 December 2006 |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3340641,00.html |access-date=26 September 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Syria ready to discuss land for peace |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=12 June 2007 |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=64667 |access-date=20 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Egypt: Israel must accept the land-for-peace formula |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=15 March 2007 |url=http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=54876 |access-date=20 March 2012}}</ref> Israel has been criticized for engaging in systematic and widespread violations of [[Human rights in the Israeli-occupied territories|human rights in the occupied territories]], including the occupation itself,<ref>{{cite web|title=A/RES/36/147. Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories |url=https://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/36/a36r147.htm|access-date=12 February 2017}}</ref> and [[war crime]]s against civilians.<ref name="tny1">{{cite news |last1=Rudoren |first1=Jodi |last2=Sengupta |first2=Somini |date=22 June 2015 |title=U.N. Report on Gaza Finds Evidence of War Crimes by Israel and by Palestinian Militants |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/23/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-report.html |access-date=12 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=23 July 2014 |title=Human Rights Council establishes Independent, International Commission of Inquiry for the Occupied Palestinian Territory |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2014/07/human-rights-council-establishes-independent-international-commission |access-date=12 February 2017 |publisher=[[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=UN condemns Israel's West Bank settlement plans|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38740712|publisher=BBC News|access-date=12 February 2017 |date=25 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=22 December 1987 |title=The Avalon Project: United Nations Security Council Resolution 605 |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/un605.asp |access-date=12 February 2017 |website=avalon.law.yale.edu}}</ref> The allegations include violations of international humanitarian law<ref>{{cite web|title=Faced with Israeli denial of access to Occupied Palestinian Territory, UN expert resigns |url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52935|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205095623/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52935|archive-date=5 December 2016 |date=4 January 2016}}</ref> by the [[United Nations Human Rights Council|UN Human Rights Council]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Human Rights Council adopts six resolutions and closes its thirty-first regular session |url=http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=18535&LangID=E |access-date=12 February 2017}}</ref> The [[U.S. State Department]] has called reports of [[Human rights violations against Palestinians by Israel|abuses of significant human rights of Palestinians]] 'credible' both within Israel<ref>'Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: unlawful or arbitrary killings; arbitrary detention, often extraterritorial detention of Palestinians from the occupied territories in Israel; restrictions on Palestinians residing in Jerusalem including arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy, family, and home; substantial interference with the freedom of association; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; harassment of nongovernmental organizations; significant restrictions on freedom of movement within the country; violence against asylum seekers and irregular migrants; violence or threats of violence against national, racial, or ethnic minority groups; and labor rights abuses against foreign workers and Palestinians from the West Bank.' [https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/313615_ISRAEL-2021-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf ''Israel 2021 Human Rights Report,''] [[United States Department of State]] 17 April 2021.</ref> and the occupied territories.<ref>'With respect to Israeli security forces in the West Bank: credible reports of unlawful or arbitrary killings due to unnecessary or disproportionate use of force by Israeli officials; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by Israeli officials; arbitrary arrest or detention; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; restrictions on free expression and media, including violence, threats of violence, unjustified arrests and prosecutions against journalists, and censorship; restrictions on internet freedom; restrictions on Palestinians residing in Jerusalem, including arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy, family, and home; substantial interference with the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, including harassment of nongovernmental organizations; and restrictions on freedom of movement and residence.' [https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/israel-west-bank-and-gaza/west-bank-and-gaza/ 2021 ''Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Israel, West Bank and Gaza,''] [[United States Department of State]] 12 April 2022</ref> [[Amnesty International]] and other NGOs have documented mass arbitrary arrests, torture, unlawful killings, systemic abuses and impunity<ref>{{cite news|last1=Heyer |first1=Julia Amalia|title=Kids Behind Bars: Israel's Arbitrary Arrests of Palestinian Minors |work=Der Spiegel |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/israeli-military-arrest-large-numbers-of-palestinian-children-a-995758.html |access-date=23 April 2017|date=7 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories 2016/2017 |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territories/report-israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territories/|publisher=Amnesty International|access-date=23 April 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Eight hundred dead Palestinians. But Israel has impunity|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/eight-hundred-dead-palestinians-but-israel-has-impunity-9629726.html |newspaper=The Independent|access-date=23 April 2017|date=26 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Isfahan|first1=Ali |title=Why Israel's Impunity Goes Unpunished by International Authorities |url=https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2014/08/11/why-israels-impunity-goes-unpunished-by-international-authorities/ |publisher=Foreign Policy Journal|access-date=23 April 2017|date=11 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=How impunity defines Israel and victimises Palestinians |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/03/impunity-defines-israel-victimises-palestinians-160327085608275.html |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=23 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Barghouti |first1=Marwan|date=16 April 2017 |title=Why We Are on Hunger Strike in Israel's Prisons |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/16/opinion/palestinian-hunger-strike-prisoners-call-for-justice.html|newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=23 April 2017}}</ref> in tandem with a denial of the right to [[Palestinian self-determination]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dorfman|first1=Zach |title=George Mitchell wrote 'A Path to Peace' about Israel and Palestine. Is there one?|url=http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-mitchell-peace-20170127-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=1 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Outrage over Maimane's visit to Israel |url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/outrage-over-maimanes-visit-to-israel-7397147|access-date=1 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The subordination of Palestinian rights must stop |url=http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/the-subordination-of-palestinian-rights-must-stop|access-date=1 February 2017|publisher=The National}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Palestine-Israel Journal: Settlements and the Palestinian Right to Self-Determination |website=pij.org |url=http://www.pij.org/details.php?id=478 |access-date=1 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Hammond |first1=Jeremy R.|title=The Rejection of Palestinian Self Determination |url=http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Hammond-Rejection-Palestinian-Self-Determination.pdf|access-date=1 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203161044/http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Hammond-Rejection-Palestinian-Self-Determination.pdf|archive-date=3 February 2017}}</ref> Prime Minister Netanyahu has defended the country's security forces for protecting the innocent from terrorists<ref>{{cite news|title=Top US senator clashes with Netanyahu over Israeli rights record |url=http://www.politico.eu/article/patrick-leahy-clashes-with-netanyahu-over-israeli-rights-record-human-rights-violations/ |work=Politico|access-date=12 February 2017|date=31 March 2016}}</ref> and expressed contempt for what he describes as a lack of concern about the human rights violations committed by "criminal killers".<ref>{{cite news|title=Allegations of Israeli Human Rights Violations Closely Scrutinized, Says U.S. State Department |language=en|url=http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.718320 |newspaper=Haaretz|access-date=12 February 2017 |date=6 May 2017}}</ref>

The [[international community]] widely regards Israeli settlements in the occupied territories [[international law and Israeli settlements|illegal under international law]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Israel: The security barrier—between international law, constitutional law, and domestic judicial review |last=Barak-Erez |first=Daphne |journal=International Journal of Constitutional Law |date=1 July 2006 |volume=4 |issue=3 |page=548| doi=10.1093/icon/mol021 |doi-access=free |quote=The real controversy hovering over all the litigation on the security barrier concerns the fate of the Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. Since 1967, Israel has allowed and even encouraged its citizens to live in the new settlements established in the territories, motivated by religious and national sentiments attached to the history of the Jewish nation in the land of Israel. This policy has also been justified in terms of security interests, taking into consideration the dangerous geographic circumstances of Israel before 1967 (where Israeli areas on the Mediterranean coast were potentially threatened by Jordanian control of the West Bank ridge). The international community, for its part, has viewed this policy as patently illegal, based on the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention that prohibit moving populations to or from territories under occupation.}}</ref> The United Nations however, has been [[Israel and the United Nations|accused of bias]] against Israel.<ref>''American interest and UN reform. Report of the Task Force on the United Nations'', United States Institute of Peace, 2005, [http://www.usip.org/files/file/usip_un_report.pdf www.usip.org]</ref><ref>Caplen, Robert A., "The Charlie Brown 'Rain Cloud Effect' in International Law: An Empirical Study," 36 ''Capital Univ. Law Review'' 693 (2008). http://ssrn.com/abstract=1663902</ref> [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334]] (passed 2016) states that Israel's settlement activity constitutes a "flagrant violation" of [[international law]] and demands that Israel stop such activity and fulfill its obligations as an [[Military occupation#The occupying power|occupying power]] under the [[Fourth Geneva Convention]].<ref name=toi>{{cite news|title=Choosing not to veto, Obama lets anti-settlement resolution pass at UN Security Council |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/choosing-not-to-veto-obama-lets-anti-settlement-resolution-pass-at-un-security-council/|access-date=23 December 2016|work=The Times of Israel}}</ref> A [[United Nations special rapporteur]] concluded that settlement program was a [[war crime]] under the [[Rome Statute]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Nebehay |first=Stephanie |title=Israeli settlements amount to war crime - U.N. rights expert |website=Reuters |date=9 July 2021 |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-settlements-amount-war-crime-un-rights-expert-2021-07-09/ |access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref> and [[Amnesty International]] found that the settlement program constitutes an illegal transfer of civilians into occupied territory as well as amounting to "pillage", which is prohibited by both the [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907|Hague Conventions]] and the [[Geneva Conventions]] as well as being a war crime under the Rome Statute.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chapter 3: Israeli Settlements and International Law |website=Amnesty International |date=30 January 2019 |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2019/01/chapter-3-israeli-settlements-and-international-law/ |access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref>

====Apartheid accusations====
{{main|Israel and apartheid}}
Israel's treatment of the Palestinians within the occupied territories have drawn widespread [[Israel and apartheid|accusations that it is guilty]] of [[crime of apartheid|apartheid]], a [[crime against humanity]] under the Rome Statute and the [[International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Shakir |first=Omar |date=27 April 2021 |title=A Threshold Crossed |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution |journal=Human Rights Watch |access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=27 April 2021 |title=Israel committing crimes of apartheid and persecution - HRW |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56898864 |access-date=6 April 2023 |website=BBC News}}</ref> A 2021 survey of academic experts on the Middle East found an increase from 59% to 65% of these scholars describing Israel as a "one-state reality akin to apartheid".<ref>{{cite news |date=16 February 2021 |title=Here's how experts on the Middle East see the region's key issues, our new survey finds |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/02/16/heres-how-experts-middle-east-see-regions-key-issues-our-new-survey-finds/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=17 September 2021 |title=Academic experts believe that Middle East politics are actually getting worse |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/09/17/academic-experts-believe-that-middle-east-politics-are-actually-getting-worse/}}</ref> This claim has been affirmed by the Israeli human rights organizations [[Yesh Din]] and [[B'tselem]], along with other international human rights groups, including [[Amnesty International]] and [[Human Rights Watch]], with the criticism extending to its treatment of [[Palestinian citizens of Israel|Palestinians within Israel]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Rosenfeld|first=Arno|date=27 April 2021|title=Israel is committing 'crime of apartheid,' Human Rights Watch says|url=https://forward.com/news/468473/israel-apartheid-human-rights-watch/|access-date=15 February 2022|work=The Forward |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite news|last=Berger|first=Miriam|date=1 February 2022|title=Amnesty International, joining other human rights groups, says Israel is 'committing the crime of apartheid'|language=en-US|newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/01/amnesty-international-joining-other-human-rights-groups-says-israel-is-committing-crime-apartheid/|access-date=15 February 2022}}</ref> Amnesty's report was criticised by politicians and representatives from Israel and its closest allies such as, the United States,<ref>{{Cite news |title=U.S. State Department Rejects Amnesty's Apartheid Claim Against Israel |language=en |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/u-s-state-department-rejects-amnesty-s-apartheid-claims-against-israel-1.10583830 |access-date=16 February 2022}}</ref> the United Kingdom,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Elgot |first=Jessica |date=2022-04-28 |title=Keir Starmer hosts Israeli Labor party in charm offensive ahead of local elections |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/apr/28/keir-starmer-hosts-israeli-labor-party-in-charm-offensive-ahead-of-local-elections |access-date=2023-10-25 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> the [[European Commission]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-01-20 |title=Parliamentary question E-000932/2022(ASW) {{!}} Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Borrell i Fontelles on behalf of the European Commission |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2022-000932-ASW_EN.html |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=[[European Parliament]] |language=en}}</ref> Australia,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Andrew Tillett |date=2022-02-02 |title=PM, Labor defend Israel over apartheid claim |url=https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/pm-labor-defend-israel-over-apartheid-claim-20220202-p59t33 |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=[[Australian Financial Review]] |language=en}}</ref> Netherlands<ref>{{Cite news |title=Netherlands rejects Amnesty report accusing Israel of apartheid |work=The Jerusalem Post |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-705664 |access-date=2 May 2022}}</ref> and Germany,<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 February 2022 |title=Germany rejects use of word 'apartheid' in connection with Israel |language=en |publisher=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germany-rejects-use-word-apartheid-connection-with-israel-2022-02-02/ |access-date=16 February 2022}}</ref> while said accusations were welcomed by Palestinians,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 February 2022 |title=Israeli policies against Palestinians amount to apartheid – Amnesty |language=en-GB |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-60197918 |access-date=15 February 2022}}</ref> representatives from other states,{{Which|date=January 2024}} and organizations such as the [[Arab League]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://arab.news/mggnn |title=Arab League, OIC welcome Amnesty's report on Israel's 'apartheid' against Palestinians|date=3 February 2022 |website=Arab News}}</ref> In 2022, Michael Lynk, a Canadian law professor [[United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories|appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council]] said that the situation met the legal definition of apartheid.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kingsley |first=Patrick |date=23 March 2022 |title=U.N. Investigator Accuses Israel of Apartheid, Citing Permanence of Occupation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/23/world/middleeast/israel-apatheid-un.html |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Subsequent reports from his successor, [[Francesca Albanese]] and from [[Permanent United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Israel Palestine conflict]] chair Navi Pillay echoed the opinion.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.newarab.com/news/un-report-urges-plan-end-israeli-colonialism-apartheid|title=UN report urges plan to 'end Israeli colonialism, apartheid'|website=The New Arab|date=19 October 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/un-commission-says-it-will-investigate-apartheid-charges-against-israel/|title=UN commission says it will investigate 'apartheid' charges against Israel|first=Luke|last=Tress|website=The Times of Israel |date=28 October 2022}}</ref>