Dr. John Reynolds:

Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention says that it is prohibited for an occupying power to transfer the civilian population into the occupied territory. This is because the whole point of occupational law is to preserve the situation during or at the end of a war. It is a temporary situation until things return to normal. The military may need to be there for a very short transitional period but there is no basis for a civilian settlement or civilian population to be moved in. Obviously, the absurdity of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is that it has gone on for as long as it has. It is a violation of humanitarian law under the Geneva Convention. It is a war crime under the International Criminal Court founding statute, the Rome Statute. It also a war crime under Irish legislation.