Israel builds settlements in defiance of international rules

An Iranian lawmaker says Israel’s insistence on construction of Zionist settler units in the occupied territories proves that the Tel Aviv regime does not comply with any rule of international law and conventions.

“The history of the illegitimate entity of the occupying Zionist regime [of Israel] has shown that this phony regime does not abide by any rule,” Abolfazl Aboutorabi said on Saturday.

Referring to Israel’s boycott of a UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) review condemning Tel Aviv’s settlement plans, Aboutorabi added that the Israeli regime describes the UNHRC’s reports as baseless while this regime is a major violator of human rights in the world.

The UN Human Rights Council reviewed Israel’s human rights records on January 29 as part of the Universal Periodic Review mechanism. Israel is not a member of the UN rights council, but it is required to undergo the review.

However, Tel Aviv refused to attend the UNHRC review session in Geneva.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) in 1967.

The UN and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.