A/HRC/RES/37/35
Noting in particular the Court’s reply, including that the construction of the wall
being built by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
in and around East Jerusalem, and its associated regime are contrary to international law,
Reaffirming the principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by
force, and deeply concerned at the fragmentation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, through the construction of settlements, settler roads, the wall and
other measures that are tantamount to de facto annexation of Palestinian land,
Emphasizing the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of
Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and reaffirming the obligation of the States parties to the Fourth
Geneva Convention under articles 146, 147 and 148 with regard to penal sanctions, grave
breaches and responsibilities of the High Contracting Parties and to ensure respect for
international humanitarian law,
Stressing the importance of accountability in preventing future conflicts and
ensuring that there is no impunity for violations and abuses, thereby contributing to peace
efforts and avoiding the recurrence of violations of international law, including
international humanitarian law and international human rights law,
Expressing grave concern at the continuing violation of international humanitarian
law and the systematic violation of the human rights of the Palestinian people by Israel, the
occupying Power, including that arising from the excessive use of force and military
operations causing death and injury to Palestinian civilians, including children and women,
and to non-violent, peaceful demonstrators and to journalists, including through the use of
live ammunition; the arbitrary detention of Palestinians, some of whom have been detained
for decades; the use of collective punishment; the closure of areas; the confiscation of land;
the establishment and expansion of settlements; the construction of a wall in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory in departure from the Armistice Line of 1949; the forcible
displacement of civilians, including of Bedouin communities; the policies and practices that
discriminate against and disproportionately affect the Palestinian population in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem; the discriminatory allocation of
water resources between Israeli settlers, who reside illegally in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, and the Palestinian population of the said Territory; the violation of the basic
right to adequate housing, which is a component of the right to an adequate standard of
living; the revocation of residency permits from Palestinians of East Jerusalem and their
eviction from their city; the destruction of property and infrastructure, inter alia, homes of
Palestinians; the hampering of humanitarian assistance and the destruction of, inter alia,
structures provided as humanitarian aid, contributing to a coercive environment that leads
to the forcible transfer of Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including when carried out as an act of collective punishment in violation of international
humanitarian law; incidents of harassment of and attacks on school children and attacks on
educational facilities by Israeli settlers and as a result of Israeli military action; and all other
actions designed to change the legal status, geographical nature and demographic
composition of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
Deploring all conflicts in and around the Gaza Strip and the civilian casualties
caused, including the killing and injury of thousands of Palestinian civilians, including
children, women and elderly persons, the widespread destruction of thousands of homes
and of civilian infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, water sanitation and electricity
networks, economic, industrial and agricultural properties, public institutions, religious sites
and United Nations schools and facilities, the internal displacement of hundreds of
thousands of civilians, and all violations of international law, including humanitarian and
human rights law, in this regard,
Gravely concerned in particular about the disastrous humanitarian situation and the
critical socioeconomic and security situations in the Gaza Strip, including that resulting
from the prolonged continuous closures and severe economic and movement restrictions
that in effect amount to a blockade, and from the continuing and vastly negative
repercussions of previous Israeli military operations, and about the firing of rockets into
Israel,
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