UN Experts Call for Action to End Israel's Forced Displacement of Occupied Territories

UN-appointed independent rights experts called for immediate action from the international community to end Israel’s forced evictions and displacement of Palestinians in East Jerusalem as part of Israel’s annexation and de-Palestinianisation of the city.

In a joint statement issued on Thursday, they said: “There has been an ongoing and unchecked tragedy: the forced eviction of Palestinians from their homes."

“Israel’s transfer of its own population into the occupied territory confirms a deliberate intention to colonize the territory it occupies, a practice strictly prohibited by international humanitarian law,” they noted.

“It amounts to a prima facie war crime,” they declared.

The joint statement was issued by three UN independent experts: Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967; Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing; and Paula Gaviria Betancur, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons.