JERUSALEM: Lynn Hastings, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, has cautioned that the recent Israeli Supreme Court rejection of petitions challenging eviction orders issued to inhabitants of Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank amounted to forcible removal.
“The ruling affects over 1000 Palestinians, including 500 children, in the occupied West Bank and provides for expulsion,” Hastings said in a statement. “Because all domestic legal options have been exhausted, the community is now defenceless and at risk of eviction.”
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator cautioned that “such evictions resulting in relocation might constitute to forced transfer, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions and international law.”
She reaffirmed the UN Secretary-appeal General’s on Israel to “stop demolitions and evictions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in accordance with its duties under international law.”
The Palestinian leadership has also slammed the Israeli court’s decision.
