UN cautions Israel that registering occupied West Bank land could 'legitimize the occupation'

HAMILTON, Canada

The UN said Israel's approval of a land registration process in the occupied West Bank risks further "legitimizing" its occupation over Palestinian territory.

"We think it's a dangerous movement in terms of legitimizing the occupation. We believe that the West Bank is part of the occupied Palestinian territory," spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference.

The comments came after reports about the Israeli Cabinet approving a West Bank land registration process to "strengthen Jewish settlement."

"I think anything that would move towards annexation would be, to put it mildly, counter to international law and not encounter to our efforts in the peace process," he said, emphasizing that the developments in the Palestine-Israel conflict are "moving in the wrong direction and we need to reverse course."

Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Dujarric reported that no humanitarian or commercial supplies have entered the Gaza Strip in more than 70 days.

He stressed that Israel's "ongoing, full-scale blockade of the Strip is taking a disastrous toll on the population."

"Today, out of 11 UN requests for coordinated humanitarian movements, five were denied outright, including one planned mission to retrieve fuel from Rafah to supply hospitals, ambulances, and water, sanitation and hygiene facilities. The other six missions, which included the rotation of staff, were facilitated," he said.

Emphasizing that "both supplies and time running out," Dujarric noted that "principled humanitarian assistance and other essential supplies must be allowed into Gaza to save lives."

"Israel, as the occupying power, must abide by international humanitarian law and facilitate aid for people in need, wherever they are," he added.

Since March 2, Israel has kept Gaza crossings closed to food, medical and humanitarian aid, deepening an already humanitarian crisis in the enclave, according to the government, human rights groups and international reports.

Nearly 53,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.