GENEVA - Half a century of occupation and seizure of land and resources by Israel has impoverished the Palestinian people, and denied their development rights. Once a new UN study shows.
Studies by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) show that both Israel and the international community have an obligation under international human rights law to avoid actions that impede development.
UNCTAD says Israel and the international community need to take steps to encourage development in the occupied Palestinian territories.
"The international community must assume its responsibility to promote development in the occupied Palestinian Territories and ensure that its lasting occupation and losses to the welfare of the Palestinian people is over," said Mahmoud Elkhafif, the UNCTAD's Coordinator of Relief for the Palestinian Peoples Unit, as quoted by Xinhua on Wednesday (4/4). / 2018).
The UNCTAD research is entitled, "The Economic Cost of Israeli Occupation for the Palestinian People and Their Human Rights for Development: The Legal Dimension."
This study highlights the economic costs imposed by the Israeli occupation in relation to Palestinian agriculture, water resources, fisheries, mining, tourism, communications, manufacturing and human capital.
"Under the occupation, the Palestinians and their governments are not allowed to carry out the essential tasks necessary for economic and social development to take place," the report said.
This prevents them from enjoying indisputable human rights for development, which maintains that all human beings and the community have the right to freely participate, contribute, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development.
Israeli actions that impose costs on the Palestinian people also include the construction of illegal settlements and a barrier of separation in the West Bank.
"The barrier is being built on a route that protects the settlements and picks up a significant Palestinian land channel, causing major disruption to Palestinian social life and economic activity," the study noted.
The study emphasizes that under international law, the occupying authority has an obligation to persons under occupation and the international community.
"Therefore, the international community assumes the obligation to support the economic development of the Palestinian people and ensure that Israel complies with international law," the report said.