BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A United Nations human rights investigator stressed that Israel is depriving millions of Palestinians of access to a regular supply of clean water while stripping their lands of minerals “in an apparent act of pillage,” on Monday.
Michael Lynk, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, said that Israel “continues full-steam with settlement expansion” in the occupied West Bank.
Lynk added, “There are some 20-25,000 new settlers a year.”
According to settlement watchdog Peace Now, under Netanyahu’s government, intensive activity to restore the widespread phenomenon of illegal outposts deep inside the West Bank has increased.
Since the occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 1967, between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis have moved into Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, in violation of international law.
The estimated 196 government recognized Israeli settlements scattered across the Palestinian territory are all considered illegal under international law.
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