Photo: Dan Vernon

On 11 August 2026, Al-Haq sent letters to the President and eighteen Vice Presidents of the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), calling for the withdrawal of Israel’s observer status at PACE. Given Israel’s ongoing and well-documented breaches of international law, entrenching its settler colonial apartheid regime, unlawful presence, de facto and de jure annexation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), and continuing genocidal attacks against the Palestinian people, we urge the Parliamentary Assembly to act quickly to withdraw Israel’s observer status.

The Council of Europe has always defended human rights, democracy and the rule of law, and to maintain these values, it must act consistently and on principle, especially when faced with credible reports of serious human rights violations. According to Article 64(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly (2025),¹ representatives of non-Member States granted observer status must meet the conditions set out in paragraph 1 of Statutory Resolution (93) 26 of the Committee of Ministers on observer status. The latter sets out that “Any state willing to accept the principles of democracy, the rule of law and the enjoyment by all persons within its jurisdiction of human rights and fundamental freedoms and wishing to co-operate with the Council of Europe” may be granted observer status.²

As such, Israel, as a basic requirement of its observer status, must accept the core principles of the Council of Europe – democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and fundamental freedoms. However, Israel’s violent and discriminatory actions against the Palestinian people as a whole, including its annexation of Palestinian territory, entrenched apartheid regime on both sides of the Green Line, settlement expansion, arming of violent settlers, systematic impunity for international crimes, collective punishment, indiscriminate attacks on civilians, starvation and obstruction of life-saving humanitarian aid, its continued siege of Gaza, and genocidal destruction of the Palestinian people, amongst others, raises serious legal concerns that Israel does not meet the standards expected of an Observer State.

A growing body of evidence and legal determinations suggest that Israel is maintaining its unlawful presence and apartheid in the OPT through acts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Since 7 October 2023, Israel has killed 73,386 Palestinians and injured 174,256 Palestinians in Gaza, including 1,258 killed and 4,145 injured since the so-called ceasefire in October 2025. The UN Commission of Inquiry has found that Israel’s continuing conduct in Gaza meets the mens rea for the crime of genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.³ This follows the ruling by the International Court of Justice, issuing three sets of Provisional Measures against Israel for plausible genocide.⁴ The scale of civilian harm and patterns of destruction intentionally inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza, as demonstrated through statements by Israeli officials, have led United Nations Experts and organisations to call for urgent accountability and investigation.⁵ Moreover, Israel’s ongoing closure and blockade of Gaza and denial of humanitarian aid have made famine-like conditions worse, depriving civilians of basic needs, resulting in the malnourishment and wasting of Palestinian children.6 Given these events, Israel’s actions in Gaza are not only serious breaches of international law but also directly contravene core Council of Europe principles, such as respect for human dignity, the right to life, and the ban on inhuman or degrading treatment.

Israel’s ongoing annexation of Palestinian territory, notably through its exponentially increasing settlement expansion, clearly violates international humanitarian law (IHL), and is an illegal acquisition of territory through use of force, in breach of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. As recognised in UN Security Council resolution 2334 (2016) Israeli settlements in the OPT have “no legal validity and constitute a flagrant violation under international law”. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention specifically prohibits the transfer in of the Occupying Power’s civilians to colonise occupied territory, while Article 53 prohibits the destruction of property of the protected population.

Israel has appropriated over 70% of Area C, which represents 60 per cent of the West Bank, appropriating Palestinian lands as natural reserves, state lands and military training areas, separated by the construction of the Wall and its associated regime.⁷ This has had the effect of further displacing Palestinians into Areas A and B of the West Bank, into fragmented enclaves, subject to increasing violent settler attacks. In July 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled that “[t]hese policies and practices are designed to remain in place indefinitely and to create irreversible effects on the ground” and concluded “that these policies and practices amount to annexation of large parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”⁸ These actions entrench Israel’s settler colonial apartheid regime, as well as its de facto annexation of the West Bank and de jure annexation of East Jerusalem. The lack of accountability for these violations weakens the international legal system.

Since 1948, Israel’s discriminatory laws, policies and practices on both sides of the Green Line have fragmented the Palestinian people and Palestinian territory, while maintaining the domination of Israeli Jews. While Israel transfers in Israeli Jews to colonise the Palestinian territory, Palestinians are systematically denied their inherent right of return to their homes under the discriminatory provisions of Israel’s Basic Law. In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,

the practice of establishing settlements discriminates one racial group over another in planning, infrastructure, and legal rights.⁹ Israel administers the OPT under two different legal systems, subjecting Palestinians to repressive military laws, while Israeli settlers enjoy full civil rights under civilian law, leading to significant differences in legal rights and protections in the face of forced evictions, home demolitions, limited access to natural resources and land seizures.

As of 30 March 2026, over 780,000 settlers are living in more than 542 settlements and outposts. Many of these settlements have been authorised by the current government.¹⁰ 84 outposts were established between 1 November 2024 and 31 December 2025.¹¹ Outposts are private endeavours by settlers that are illegal under Israeli law before being formally authorised. A complicated system of permits, checkpoints, and movement limits has created a harsh reality for Palestinians, considerably limiting their ability to secure healthcare, education, and maintain family unity. Israel has revoked all work permits for Palestinians since October 2023. Palestinians without any source of income have no other option than to seek employment inside the Green Line, risking arrest and detention in inhuman conditions that they may subsequently face.¹²

These policies are not accidental but systematic, and meet the legal definition of apartheid under international law as per converging views expressed by legal experts and civil society organisations.¹³ This consensus was later joined by the ICJ, which handed down its Palestine Advisory Opinion in July 2024, recognising that Israel’s presence in the OPT is illegal, breaching notably the prohibition against racial segregation and apartheid.¹⁴ These practices directly contravene the principles of equality before the law, non-discrimination, and respect for human dignity that are central to the Council of Europe; maintaining Israel’s Observer Status despite these ongoing violations risks damaging the Council’s credibility and its commitment to universal human rights.

Al-Haq expresses deep concern about current legislative developments resulting in the adoption of two death penalty laws, namely the Penal Bill (Amendment No. 159) (Death Penalty for Terrorists) 2025 and the Prosecution of Participants in the October 7 Massacre Events Bill 2025. Despite repeated calls from Palestinian civil society, human rights organisations, and United Nations human rights experts to abandon the two death penalty bills given their fundamental violation of basic human rights law,¹⁵ Israel has proceeded to formalise on a legislative basis the discriminatory, systematic, and state-sanctioned killing of Palestinian detainees. These laws represent “a dangerous and unprecedented escalation in Israel’s pursuit of Palestinian erasure”, as it would allow the death penalty for Palestinians accused of causing the death of an Israeli citizen “deliberately or through indifference,” from a motive of racism or hostility against an Israeli citizen and with the aim of harming the State of Israel and the “national revival of the Jewish people in its land”.

Notably, the Committee Against Torture’s “Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of Israel” identified a “deliberate State policy of collective punishment”¹⁶ and recommended Israel declare a moratorium on the death penalty and “reviewing the country’s legislation and policy in order to abolish it”.¹⁷ The seriousness of the proposed law lies not only in its wide scope, which could be applied to any Palestinians suspected of the above offence without proper evidence, but also in its retroactivity. This violates the principle of legality and its corollary, the non-retroactive application of criminal law to an accused’s disadvantage, both enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights.

Clearly Israel’s practices raise serious concerns under established human rights standards. We note that serious violations of international law have previously led to the suspension, withdrawal or downgrading of states’ participation rights. In 2014, the Parliamentary Assembly suspended the voting rights of the Russian delegation in response to the annexation of Crimea and the military occupation of Ukrainian territory, which were explicitly condemned as grave violations of international law.¹⁸ In 2022, the Council of Europe, eventually expelled Russia entirely following the invasion of Ukraine. Similarly, the “special guest” status of Belarus was suspended and remains suspended due to concerns about democracy and human rights, particularly regarding executions and authoritarian governance.¹⁹

Yet Israel’s actions highlight a broader failure to uphold the core values of the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Social Charter. These instruments set out key rights, such as the right to life, the prohibition of inhuman treatment, respect for dignity, and the protection of social and economic rights. Keeping observer status despite ongoing violations of these fundamental principles reveals a dangerous double standard and risks damaging the Assembly’s credibility.

Allowing any state accused of systematic violations of international humanitarian law and human rights to keep observer privileges raises questions about fairness and consistency. The Council of Europe’s integrity depends on its readiness to act firmly when faced with serious violations. We ask you to uphold its founding values by taking principled and consistent action.

We therefore urge the Parliamentary Assembly to:

• Initiate a formal review of Israel’s Observer Status;
• Withdraw Israel’s Observer Status to ensure compliance with international legal obligations and Statutory Resolution (93) 26;
• Reaffirm its commitment to justice, accountability, and the protection of human rights that ought to be shared by all Member States and Observer States.