But for argument’s sake let us play devil’s advocate and assume Israel is still an occupier to this day, as some might argue, despite the lack of an international conflict. Then, are the settlements illegal?

The answer is still no, here is why:

The convention only applies to states that are a party to the convention itself. Thus, both the occupier and the occupied must be a signatory to the convention in order for it to apply. Since the Arabs of the “West bank” are not a state, they are not a signatory to the Convention, therefore the Fourth Geneva Convention does not apply to this conflict. This position is shared by Professor Julius Stone, one of the 20th century’s leading authorities on international law, “Israel and Palestine, Assault on the Law of Nations” discourse 2, pg. 177.

This was also the position of a French Court of Appeals which stated: the Palestinian Authority is not a party to the Fourth Geneva Convention and therefore the convention does not apply to them.