Published: 3 November 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
‘High time for accountability’, UN expert says as Israel approves highest rate of illegal settlements (UN News)
Against the backdrop that earlier this month, a defence ministry planning committee approved plans for 4,948 more homes, he spelled out: “It is high time for accountability”.
The latest announcement means that the Israeli government has approved more than 12,150 settlements this year, said the independent UN expert.
According to the advocacy group Peace Now, this would be the highest number of annual approvals by Israel since the group began recording figures in 2012.
“While Israel may have shelved its plans for the de jure annexation of the settlements in August, it is continuing with its de facto annexation of the Palestinian territory through this unrelenting settlement growth”, discerned Mr Lynk, who was appointed as a Special Rapporteur by the UN Human Rights Council in 2016.
West Bank Palestinians' olive trees burn as UN urges protection for harvest (Ynet)
UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov calls on Israel to ensure the safety of Palestinian olive farmers amid attacks by 'by people believed or known to be Israeli settlers'
Extreme heat dashes Palestinian olive farmers’ hopes for a good year (Haaretz)
Groves are reporting exceptionally bad harvests across the West Bank, and experts are tying the results to the heat wave back in May – as global warming threatens
Photo: Settlement of Maale Ephraim
