Israel has been, illegally, in military occupation of the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, and the Gaza strip since 1967 - the longest such occupation in history, and the only one anywhere in the world today.

This fact is fundamental to understanding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The rules governing the behaviour of an occupying power are laid down in the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949), relating to the protection of civilians in time of war, to which Israel is a high contracting party. The convention is a cornerstone of international humanitarian law. It sets basic legal standards for the treatment of civilians during armed conflict or under occupation. It bans indiscriminate use of force against civilians, wanton destruction of property, torture, collective punishment, the annexation of occupied territory, and the establishment of settlements or colonies on occupied land. It requires that all high contracting parties ensure that the convention is respected and that those who commit war crimes are brought judicially to account.

Alone among the 189 high contracting parties (states signatory to the convention), Israel has throughout its 35-year occupation refused to recognize the legal applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN have consistently maintained that the convention applies fully to the occupied territories and that the Palestinians are a protected population under its terms. The abortive Oslo "peace process" has not changed their status in this regard. They may not be killed, tortured, ill-treated or suffer humiliating and degrading treatment. They may not be deported. Their property may not be destroyed unless "rendered absolutely necessary by military operations". Collective punishment and reprisals are prohibited. Israel may not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies. Article 147 spells out a list of "grave breaches" of the convention.

Under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, "grave breaches" of the Geneva Conventions constitute war crimes.

International peace observers

Israel has also ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, one of the major UN human rights treaties. This treaty, which Israel has solemnly undertaken to uphold, contains several articles, including the right to life and the right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, which cannot be derogated from even "in time of public emergency which threats the life of the nation".

A casual reading of the newspapers will confirm that Israel is routinely, even daily, in breach of its international humanitarian and human rights commitments.

Last December, the Swiss government, as a depository of the Geneva Conventions, called a conference of high contracting parties to discuss the implementation of the Fourth Convention in the occupied Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem. Israel, together with the United States, boycotted the conference.

The World Council of Churches, through the Churches' Commission on International Affairs, criticized the conference for failing to recommend concrete measures and effective international mechanisms to ensure the protection of civilian populations in the territories.

A girl in the Palestinian streets

"As people of faith we uphold and defend the sanctity of all life, both Palestinian and Israeli, and cannot remain silent in the face of suffering, insecurity and fear of both peoples," the commission said.

"Israel's repeated defiance of international law, its continuing occupation, and the impunity it has so long enjoyed are the fundamental causes of the present violence and threaten the peace and security of both peoples."

As part of the Decade to Overcome Violence, launched in Potsdam in February 2001, the WCC is calling on churches this year to focus on ending the illegal occupation of Palestine and promoting a comprehensive peace, based on justice and security for all the peoples of the Middle East.

Páraic Réamonn