Rosebank is facing a major legal warning over connections with occupation in Palestine. Legal experts are warning that approving Rosebank could put the UK at risk of breaching international humanitarian law, by failing to prevent investment linked to illegal settlements.
Rosebank’s co-owner, Ithaca Energy, is majority-owned by the Delek Group, one of Israel’s largest oil companies. Delek profits from illegal settlements in the West Bank, and has been flagged by the UN for human rights violations in Palestine. Its subsidiary, Delek Israel, supplies fuel to the Israeli military. If Rosebank is approved, more than £200 million in profits could flow directly to Delek.
The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign has officially served the government a new legal advice that approving Rosebank could put the UK in direct breach of international law.
The new legal advice has identified potential breaches of the UK’s international obligations under the Geneva Conventions, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention, should the government choose to approve the field over the coming months.
The breaches largely centre around Delek’s operations in West Bank settlements, which are illegal under international law. The UK has an obligation not to aid or assist the maintenance of illegal settlements, as well as a responsibility to prevent trade and investment relations that could support them.
Here is what former Scotland First Minister Humza Yousaf said:
“The UK government cannot pick and choose which bits of its international obligations it upholds. Nor can it allow the narrow, commercial interests of multinational oil and gas firms to trump the rights of Palestinians.
“Scotland’s resources must not be allowed to become a revenue stream for a company that is facilitating the very existence of illegal Israeli settlements.
“Keir Starmer needs to recognise the strength of feeling in Scotland by standing up for international law, and the right of Palestinian people not to have their land stolen from them, and say no to Rosebank funding occupation.”
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