Law
Are Israeli settlements legal?
LEGAL FINDING
The short answer
Under international law, the widely accepted answer is no. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from transferring parts of its own civilian population into territory it occupies. The UN Security Council has said Israeli settlements in territory occupied since 1967 have “no legal validity.”
The fuller explanation
Under international law, the widely accepted answer is no.
The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from transferring parts of its own civilian population into territory it occupies.
The UN Security Council has said Israeli settlements in territory occupied since 1967 have “no legal validity.”
In 2024, the International Court of Justice also concluded that Israel’s settlement policy violates international law and said Israel must stop new settlement activity and evacuate settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Israel disputes aspects of this legal interpretation and has historically challenged the way the law is applied to the territories.
But describing the legality of settlements as simply “both sides disagree” would be misleading: the UN, the ICJ and the overwhelming international legal consensus consider them illegal.