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ISRAEL – PALESTINE: Special Rapporteur calls on ICJ to assess prolonged Israeli occupation of Palestine
The UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights, Richard Falk, has presented a report calling on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to assess the legal status of Israel's prolonged occupation of Palestine, alleging that it has the characteristics of colonialism, apartheid and ethnic cleansing, which are legally unacceptable. Falk also has called on the UN Human Rights Council to examine the legal implications of the occupation of Palestine. The special rapporteur has expressed its concerns over settlement expansion, noting that the number of colonies in occupied territories built in the West Bank doubled in 2013. Concern was also expressed over the Wall, declared illegal by the ICJ in 2004, but whose construction continues, and regarding the fragmentation of the territory, especially in Jerusalem where more than 11,000 Palestinians have lost their right to live there since 1996. The report also analyzes the potential liability of companies who profit from settlements. (OHCHR, Jurist, 24/03/14)