Criminal responsibility for the crime of pillage does not only extend to the state of Israel, but can also be applied to individuals, namely Israeli settlers who benefit from the extraction of resources from the Dead Sea, Al Haq said.
“Although settlers and companies involved in the exploitation of the natural resources of the Dead Sea are mainly encouraged to do so by the State of Israel, they cannot ignore that such resources are considered Palestinian under international law. This should be sufficient to substantiate the ‘mental element’ of the crime of pillage, thus allowing for some Israeli settlers to be considered as the direct perpetrators of that crime,” the report stated.
Israel has maintained that numerous covenants of international humanitarian law do not apply to the occupied Palestinian territories since these areas are not under Israel’s jurisdiction. Recently, an Israeli government-appointed committee, known as the Levy Committee, also ruled that Israel is not an occupying power and that therefore, Israeli settlements in the West Bank are legal.
Nonetheless, many international jurists have maintained that Israel is violating basic principles of international law in its occupation of the Palestinian territories and exploitation of the area’s resources. Article 47 of the Hague Convention (1907), which outlines war crimes under international humanitarian law, states that “pillage is formally forbidden.”
Activists have launched a worldwide boycott campaign against Israeli products that are manufactured in the occupied Palestinian territories, and are inaccurately labeled as “Made in Israel.”
Recently, the South African government stated that it wouldn’t import goods produced in the occupied West Bank that are marked as Israeli-made. The United Church of Canada, the country’s largest Protestant church, also passed a similar boycott resolution against all settlement products.
The consequences of Israel’s exploitation of Palestinian resources don’t end at the Dead Sea, however. In 2009, Israeli human rights group Yesh Din submitted a petition the Israeli Supreme Court challenging the legality of Israeli quarrying activities taking place throughout the West Bank. More
