UN Committee Calls For Arms Embargo And Sanctions Against Israel

Israeli soldiers from the Nahal Brigade in southern Gaza. (Source: IDF)

JAKARTA - The United Nations committee responsible for monitoring Israel's behavior in its occupied territories urged member states on Monday to impose sanctions and arms embargoes, warning Israel's military and territorial coverage expansion has disrupted regional stability.

In its annual presentation of the report to the General Assembly, the Special Committee for Celebrating Israeli Practices that Affect the Human Rights of Palestinians and Other Arabs in the Population region described the alarming escalation over the past year in the Gaza Strip, occupied West Bank, occupied Syrian Golan Heights, and southern Lebanon.

In particular, senior Israeli officials are increasingly using the term "Israel Land" which has no limits or history to justify military action and expansion of settlements far outside of internationally recognized territory.

The committee warned that such language suggests a deliberate strategy to build "Israel Raya", a maximal territorial vision that includes modern Israel, occupied Palestinian territories, the Golan Heights, parts of southern Lebanon, and even the territory between the Nile and Egypt.

"Israeli claims that are constantly over the indefinite 'Israeli land' are not in line with just and lasting peace," the agency wrote, launching The National 18 November.

"Certaining peace in the wider Middle East region requires Israeli leaders to stop claiming land rights that are not geographically determined and have no existence in international law," the committee continued.

The committee, which was formed in 1968, further accused Israeli authorities of granting "full authority" to settlers in the West Bank to intimidate, displace, and, in some cases, kill Palestinians under the protection of Israeli soldiers.

The committee cited the emergence of armed settlers' units, repeated village raids and the destruction of homes with bulldozers, adding the absence of accountability had strengthened extremist groups.

Despite orders from the International Court (ICJ) and arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), the committee said Israel had been operating "with full impunity", supported by strong allies, and protected from meaningful sanctions.

Special concerns were expressed over the use of artificial intelligence and cloud-based surveillance technology by Israel in military targeting, citing testimony from civil society groups and a report in May this year entitled "Death Algorithm", which accuses the automated system of playing a central role in the high number of civilian casualties in Gaza.

Outside the Palestinian territories, the report focuses on Israel's rapid expansion of the occupied Syrian Golan.

As Israel intensified air and land operations in Lebanon late last year, Israel simultaneously imposed restrictive measures against the Syrian population in Golan, many of which were only lifted after Israel took over additional Syrian territory to the east of the region in December, the report stated.

On December 16 last year, the committee noted that the Israeli Cabinet approved plans to double the population of settlers there, allocating about 11 million US dollars for new infrastructure and authorized the construction of two new settlements capable of hosting about 2,000 people.

Witnesses told the committee the seizure of a buffer zone monitored by Israel, a region with significant water reserves, could allow authorities to divert water supplies to developing settlements, a move that would have "disaster consequences" for Syrian villagers.

"Also told, under Israeli occupation, Syrian citizens were subjected to house raids, controversial harassment, and discriminatory policies and practices, especially regarding land and water allocations," the report said.

The committee was told that Israel's decision to enhance and expand its control and settlements in the territory previously and newly occupied in Syria was not surprising, given that it is in line with the vision of "Israel Raya".