10 July 2020
Israel’s government pledged to formally annex further parts of the occupied West Bank, and may do so any day now. Such a move would be manifestly unlawful, with the acquisition of territory by force expressly forbidden by the UN Charter.
Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) is calling on UK-based supporters to urgently email their MP and call for the UK to take meaningful action to oppose further annexation.
Supporters in other countries are encouraged to write similar emails to their own representatives, if and when circumstances safely allow.
The precise form that Israel’s annexation will take remains unclear, though it is likely to encompass significant portions of ‘Area C’, the 60% of the West Bank already under full Israeli civil and military control, including existing settlements, and potentially the resource-rich agricultural lands of the Jordan Valley.
Palestinians living in these areas have long endured de facto annexation by Israel, characterised by systematic restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement; demolition and confiscation of homes and other Palestinian property; the prohibition on building permanent health facilities; and restricted access to water, livelihoods and natural resources.
These policies and practices undermine Palestinians’ health and well-being, and formal annexation would exacerbate these trends, as MAP has outlined. As 47 UN human rights experts recently warned, it “would be the crystallisation of an already unjust reality: two peoples living in the same space, ruled by the same state, but with profoundly unequal rights.” The humanitarian situation and Palestinian territory and society would deteriorate and fragment further still. .
International action is urgently needed: not only to prevent further annexation, but also to pressure Israel to end its long-standing violations of Palestinians’ rights to health and dignity.
The UK government has stated that it opposes annexation and that such action would be illegal. Nevertheless, it has so far failed to outline what meaningful actions it will take to oppose annexation, or to hold Israel to account for ongoing violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The UK must listen to the voices of Palestinians – teachers, health workers, farmers, businesspeople, students, school children, and all others – whose lives are already made intolerable by the occupation, and stand with them and with international justice at this critical time.
Please email your MP today, asking them to stand with Palestinians against annexation and take action to support their rights to health and dignity.
