Israeli settlements are civilian communities built on lands occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War in 1967, where Israeli citizens live, almost exclusively of Jewish identity or ethnicity. They are located in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), claimed by the State of Palestine as its sovereign territory, and in the Golan Heights, which is internationally considered Syrian territory. East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights have been effectively annexed by Israel, though the international community has rejected any change of status and considers each occupied territory. The settlements are incredibly dependent on Israel-proper and are not self-sufficient, and their residents are reliant on aid and services from within the Green Line.
The very existence of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories violates international humanitarian law and is a war crime. Israel’s policy of constructing and expanding illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land is one of the main driving forces behind the mass human rights violations resulting from the occupation. Over the past 50 years, Israel has demolished tens of thousands of Palestinian properties and displaced large swathes of the population to build homes and infrastructure to illegally settle its own population in the occupied territories.
Israeli settlements control large areas of green agricultural land in the West Bank, and due to bypass roads and the Israeli separation wall, a contiguous Palestinian state is impossible. By building settlements and outposts on what is geographically recognized as Palestinian land, Israel undermines Palestinian sovereignty and preemptively bifurcates any future Palestinian state by limiting its urban development. Israeli settlements have seized most Palestinian groundwater, leaving Palestinians with no alternative but to rely on groundwater.
In summary, Israeli settlements are civilian communities built on lands occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War in 1967, where Israeli citizens live, almost exclusively of Jewish identity or ethnicity. They are located in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), claimed by the State of Palestine as its sovereign territory, and in the Golan Heights, which is internationally considered Syrian territory. The settlements are illegal and violate international humanitarian law, and their existence is one of the main driving forces behind the mass human rights violations resulting from the occupation.
