Union for Justice: Systematic Crimes Against the Palestinian People Amid International Silence
25/10/2025 – Union for Justice Organization
Reporting Period: 22 September – 7 October 2025
The Israeli occupation authorities, supported by racist governmental policies and illegitimate legal cover, continue to impose new settlement realities on Palestinian land, accompanied by an unprecedented escalation in settler attacks against civilians and their property, with direct collusion from the Israeli occupation army.
Between 22 September and 7 October 2025, the West Bank and Jerusalem witnessed a significant escalation in military operations, repeated raids on camps and cities, and widespread demolitions of homes and infrastructure—alongside the documentation of 180 organized settler attacks, all within a systematic policy aimed at forcibly displacing the Palestinian population and entrenching an apartheid regime that violates international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
These actions constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under Articles (7) and (8) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as they involve the forcible transfer of civilians and the destruction of property.
During this same period, 180 settler attacks were documented across West Bank and Jerusalem governorates. These attacks included deliberate killings, arson of agricultural lands, the cutting of olive trees, assaults on farmers, and incursions into Bedouin communities.
These attacks resulted in the killing of 21-year-old Saeed Murad al-Nasaan by an armed settler as he attempted to repel an assault on the town of Al-Mughayir northeast of Ramallah, in addition to injuries to numerous other civilians, including women and children.
Collective attacks were also documented in Huwwara, Beita, Sinjel, Deir Jarir, Farikha, and Bethlehem, where settlers bulldozed lands, burned crops, stole olive harvests, and expanded new settlement outposts at the expense of Palestinian landowners.
These violations constitute a flagrant breach of Article (49) of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which prohibits the transfer of the population of the occupying power into occupied territory. Settler actions are classified as war crimes under Article (8/2/b/8) of the Rome Statute.
Arrests and Raids as Tools of Collective Intimidation
During the same period, Israeli occupation forces carried out more than 670 raids and 283 arrests targeting women, children, and journalists, violating freedom of expression and the right to personal security.
The campaign included the arrest of former detainee Hanan al-Barghouthi, the mother of martyr Mohammad Ishtayeh, journalists Nawaf al-Amer and Mohammad Muna, in addition to the arrest of three children from Jerusalem and 15-year-old Abdullah Wahdan from Tubas.
These arrests, often accompanied by home demolitions and the terrorizing of civilians, constitute collective punishment prohibited under Article (33) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, particularly Articles (9), (19), and (21).
The organization documented 169 demolition operations targeting homes and Palestinian structures in Jerusalem and the West Bank during the reporting period, including forcing dozens of Jerusalemite families to self-demolish their homes in Silwan, Sur Baher, and Al-Musrara under threat of exorbitant fines.
Homes of martyrs and detainees were also blown up in a retaliatory policy that constitutes a war crime under Article (53) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the destruction of private property except for imperative military necessity.
International Legal Framework on Settlements
International legal principles clearly affirm that all Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal and void under:
• Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949);
• UN Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016), which condemns settlement construction as a blatant violation of international law;
• Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which criminalizes the transfer of civilians from the occupying power into occupied territory.
The failure of the international community to take binding actions against these violations entrenches impunity and encourages Israel to continue its discriminatory policies.
The Duty of the International Community and Legal Accountability
The Israeli occupation authorities bear full responsibility for the crimes committed by their forces and settlers, as these individuals operate under state sponsorship and legal protection.
States party to the Geneva Conventions are obligated under Article (1) to ensure respect for the Convention, including by taking judicial, economic, and political measures to halt settlement expansion and hold perpetrators accountable.
The organization stresses the need to activate the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court to investigate settlement crimes, forced displacement, and collective punishment that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Recent field evidence leaves no doubt that the occupation’s policy of settlement expansion and collective punishment constitutes a systematic colonial regime aimed at uprooting the Palestinian people from their land.
The Union for Justice Organization calls on all international bodies, including the Human Rights Council and the International Criminal Court, to uphold their legal and moral responsibilities and take concrete steps to stop these crimes and hold perpetrators accountable without delay.
