Human Rights Council
Tenth Session
Resolution 10/18.
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan
The Human Rights Council,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and affirming the
inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Reaffirming that all States have an obligation to promote and protect human rights and
fundamental freedoms, as stated in the Charter and as elaborated in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights and other applicable instruments,
Recalling relevant resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights, the Council, the
Security Council and the General Assembly, reaffirming, inter alia, the illegality of the Israeli
settlements in the occupied territories,
Mindful that Israel is a party to the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of
Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, which is applicable de jure to Palestinian
and all Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including East Jerusalem, and the
Syrian Golan, and recalling the declaration adopted by the Conference of High Contracting
Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, held in Geneva on 5 December 2001,
Considering that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own civilian
population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention
and relevant provisions of customary law, including those codified in Additional Protocol I to the
Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949,
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International Court of
Justice on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, and its conclusion that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, were established in breach of international law,
Recalling also General Assembly resolution ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004,
Affirming that the Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
constitute very serious violations of international humanitarian law and of the human rights of
the Palestinian people therein and undermine international efforts, including the Annapolis Peace
Conference of 27 November 2007 and the Paris International Donors’ Conference for the
Palestinian State of 17 December 2007, aimed at invigorating the peace process and establishing
a viable, contiguous, sovereign and independent Palestinian State by the end of 2008,
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