The Australian government has warned that violent acts by Israeli settlers are “terrorising Palestinian communities” in the occupied West Bank, joining with western allies to denounce an “environment of near complete impunity”.
Two days after voting in favour of a UN general assembly resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, the Australian government has strengthened its objections to violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Australia outlined the stance in a joint statement with 13 other countries plus the European Union issued on Friday. The group, which also includes France, Spain, Ireland, Canada and the UK, called on Israel to “take immediate and concrete steps to tackle record high settler violence in the occupied West Bank”.
“Since the start of October, settlers have committed more than 343 violent attacks, killing 8 Palestinian civilians, injuring more than 83, and forcing 1026 Palestinians from their homes,” the joint statement said.
“We strongly condemn the violent acts committed by extremist settlers, which are terrorising Palestinian communities.”
The US took a rare punitive step against Israel last week by announcing visa bans for individuals implicated in violence in the West Bank, a policy replicated by the UK government on Thursday.
To date, the Australian government has been silent on whether it would implement a similar policy but it has conveyed its concerns directly to the Israeli government.
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, tweeted on Friday evening: “Australia has joined with more than a dozen partners to express our grave concern about the record number of attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.”
The joint statement said the rise in extremist settler violence against Palestinians was “unacceptable”.
“Israel, as the occupying power, must protect the Palestinian civilian population in the West Bank. Those responsible for the violence must be brought to justice,” the statement said.
“Israel’s failure to protect Palestinians and prosecute extremist settlers has led to an environment of near complete impunity in which settler violence has reached unprecedented levels. This undermines security in the West Bank and the region and threatens prospects for a lasting peace.”
The statement acknowledged the Israeli government had promised to take actions against violent perpetrators, but called for “proactive” steps to protect communities. “Words are important, but must now be translated into action,” it said.
A spokesperson for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said: “The Palestinian civilian population in the West Bank must be protected, and perpetrators of any violence held to account for their actions.”
The Israeli ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, confirmed last week that the Australian government had used “official channels” to raise the issue of settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.
“I disapprove of [such attacks] and I know that my government will do its utmost in order to bring those who are violating the law and Palestinian rights behind bars,” Maimon told Guardian Australia last week.
The head of the general delegation of Palestine to Australia, Izzat Abdulhadi, said he would welcome stronger action by the Australian government on the issue of violence by Israeli settlers, but the problem had been growing for years.
“All the time we told the USA and Europe to boycott those extremist settlers and we told them about them uprooting our own olive trees and attacking our own farmers and confiscating land and building settlements,” Abdulhadi told Guardian Australia this week.
“They are illegal settlers, because settlements are illegal by international law.”
The Israeli government denies settlements are illegal and has previously argued the West Bank is “best regarded as territory over which there are competing claims which should be resolved in peace process negotiations”.
However, the Australian government is aligned with most countries in agreeing that settlements are illegal under international law.
Documents obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws show Dfat recommended earlier this year that Australia “refer publicly to Israeli settlement activity as illegal under international law”.
Dfat officials pointed to UN security council resolution 2334, which reaffirmed “that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law”.
That prompted Wong to announce in August: “The Australian government is strengthening its opposition to settlements by affirming they are illegal under international law and a significant obstacle to peace.”
The joint statement issued by Australia and other countries on Friday reiterated “our position that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law and remind Israel of its obligations under international law”.
The statement specifically mentioned Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which includes that an occupying power “shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies”.
The signatories also included Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
