On (18/1/2022 Volume 2,Issue 3, Article 5-2021) , (Najah Duqmaq Assistant Professor, Faculty of law, Al-Quds University, Palestine, Ahmed Abu Ja'far Ministry of Justice, Palestine) published a new study in:
(International Journal of Legal and Comparative Jurisprudence Studies “LCJS”) titled (The Israeli violations of the natural resources in Palestine). The articleaimed to
The study aims at achieving the following objectives:
- Knowing the measures that can be adopted by the State of Palestine to limit Israel's exploitation of natural resources.
- Developing practical measures by the State of Palestine to preserve and benefit from its natural resources.
- Shedding the light on Israel's theft of natural resources in Palestine and depriving the Palestinians of benefiting from them.
- Creating an international lobby to support the Palestine's position at the United Nations in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions in order to preserve Palestine's natural resources and prevent Israel's exploitation of these resources
The results of this study demonstrated that:
- Israel captured the Palestinian Territories, mainly to mine and to exploit its natural resources (the underground water, the land, and the Dead Sea). The Jewish state aims to promote and support its own economy. This action is contrary to the rules of IHL.
- No doubt that mining and extracting natural resources in Palestine by Israel for economic benefits amounts to the war crime of pillage, so the Israeli officials shoulder the legal responsibility for committing these types of crimes.
- Building up the Discrimination and Separation Wall, housing the Israeli inhabitants in the Palestinian Lands, and exploiting the natural resources is considered a grave violation to the rules of Public International and IHL.
- Israel encourages its own civilians to build settlements in the Palestinian Territories.
- The Jewish State deliberately and illegally damages the Palestinian agricultural land used for agriculture, water springs, and the Dead Sea natural resources. •
The right of the Palestinians to mine and keep their natural resources is legitimate. Israel is bound to guarantee this right.
- The Palestinians fell victims as a result of the environmental injustice resulted from a legal lacuna implied in Oslo Agreements. The proposed autonomy for the Palestinians did not actually include a reasonable access to their natural resources which are completely exploited by Israel, the occupying power.
Recommendations:
- Israel has to abandon its illegal mining and benefiting from the natural resources in Palestine, causing the injury to the inhabitants' properties, building up the Discrimination Wall, housing the Israeli civilians in the Palestinian Territories, and exploiting the Dead Sea natural resources. Israeli procedures and activities severely violate the rules of Public International Law, Human Rights law and IHL.
- Israel, as an occupying power, must stop Mekorot and Ahava companies from practicing their illegal activities in the Palestinian Territories. These companies are obliged to shoulder the legal effects for the violation of the IHL provisions.
- Israel must completely end its imposed restraints on access to, and utilize of the Palestinian natural water resources, which means, in one way or another the permanent sovereignty for the Palestinians over their natural resources in Palestine.
- The Palestinians should demand Israel for full compensation, since it has been systematically and unlawfully exploiting and damaging the Palestinian natural resources. It should demand the friendly countries, besides the UN for legal assistance to achieve this mission.
- The High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions must do their best to urge Israel to guarantee and show full respect to the Geneva Conventions and abide by their obligations according to Common Article 1 under IHL.
- The UN members must take legal and practical steps to practice the necessary pressure on Israeli to stop its flagrant violations for human rights in Palestine, and not involved in any kind of cooperation with Israel, commercially or military.
- The State of Palestine may request the United Nations to activate Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which gives the authority to the Security Council to use force against Israel, the aggressor country to implement the United Nations resolutions related to the Palestine case.
For more information about the study, please contact the main author at (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or the scientific research office at (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
