4. Consequences of the lack of compliance and accountability 4.1 Perpetuation of displacement: ongoing exile Israel’s lack of compliance with international law vis-à-vis Palestinian refugees and IDPs is twofold. On the one hand, Israel fails to uphold its obligation to ensure the basic rights of Palestinians under its jurisdiction and to protect them from arbitrary forced displacement. On the other hand, it also fails and is unwilling to respect its obligation to provide reparations to Palestinians forcibly displaced by its actions. Denying the right of return to Palestinian refugees is central to realizing the Zionist goal of “a maximum amount of land with the minimum amount of Palestinians.” Israel’s ongoing forced population transfer of Palestinians— accompanied by the denial of return—is a continuing violation of Palestinian individual and collective rights. Discrimination is particularly blatant in Israel’s laws and policies regulating immigration and access to citizenship, land and public services. This system and the privileged Jewish nationality status it seeks to uphold are the main obstacles to a durable solution to the Palestinian refugee and IDP issue. In fact, the erga omnes obligation to implement the collective right to self-determination first requires enabling refugees and other displaced persons to return to their homes and repossess their property, because how could they otherwise realize their right to selfdetermination while still in exile? Consequently, the Palestinian right to self-determination is meaningless without ensuring the right of Palestinian refugees to voluntary repatriation. Changing the demographic composition of an occupied territory is fundamental to colonial practice. In continuing its demographic manipulation of Mandatory Palestine, including the oPt, Israel has not only denied more than 8.1 million Palestinian refugees and IDPs their fundamental right to reparations since 1948, but is also continuing to forcibly displace and transfer the occupied Palestinian population, replacing it with Jewish-Israeli civilians since 1967. Both practices constitute grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention and amount to a serious violation of IHRL and multiple UN resolutions. The population transfer of an occupied civilian population out of a territory and the Occupier’s civilian population into the occupied territory constitute crimes against humanity and/or war crimes under Articles 7 and 8 of the Rome Statute. 66