The European Union condemned the Israeli Supreme Court's decision to displace Palestinian residents from the Masafer Yatta area in the occupied West Bank, stressing that it violates all international norms, laws and covenants, while the United Nations considered it a "war crime."

During a tour of the "Masafer Yatta" area, the European Union representative in the Palestinian territories, Sven Burgsdorff, said - in a press conference - that the Israeli Supreme Court's decision appears to ignore that there are rights under international law and the Geneva Accords Treaty, adding that 1,200 people are threatened to leave their homes in which they live. In it before the establishment of the firing zone in 1981.

"We are here to raise our voice and stand in solidarity with a society that threatens forced departure," Burgsdorff said.

The European Union representative called on US President Joe Biden to know what is happening during his upcoming visit to Israel, and to put pressure on Israel "to fulfill its obligations to protect civilians."

Burgsdorff considered that if there were mass expulsions, this would be a source of concern, explaining that reversing them would only be made by an Israeli political decision.

"If the issue is related to mass evictions and forced relocations, it will be the largest forced relocation in decades," Burgsdorff told AFP, noting that demolitions have risen dramatically since the ruling.

war crime

In the same context, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued a statement Thursday evening, stating that international humanitarian law imposes an absolute ban on the forcible transfer of civilians from or within the occupied Palestinian territory, and that Israel must put an end to all coercive measures, including Evacuations and demolitions and conducting military training in them.

The statement considered that the forced eviction that leads to displacement "amounts to the level of forced deportation, which is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and therefore considered a war crime."

The United Nations statement also condemned the continuous evictions that affect Palestinians and settlement expansion over 55 years of occupation, explaining that they change the reality on the ground and are inconsistent with international humanitarian law and Security Council resolutions.

The statement indicated that 1,150 Palestinians, including 569 children, are currently living in Masafer Yatta, and are facing threats of demolition of their homes, as well as violence from settlers who live in outposts close to them, as they block roads in the area, attack shepherds and set fire to haystacks and pastures.

On May 4, the Supreme Court in Israel ruled that Palestinians residing in the villages of Masafer Yatta “failed to prove” their claim that they were permanent residents there, before the Israeli army declared it a prohibited military zone called “Shooting Field 918”.

The judicial decision put an end to two decades of legal dispute, paving the way for the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes.