The Six Day War forty years on

Today's The Independent carries an excellent report marking the 40th anniversary of the Six Day War. This was the moment when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip and commenced its settlement program.

The Independent reports that a senior Israeli lawyer advised that it would be illegal to build settlements in the occupied territories under international law:

The legal opinion, a copy of which has been obtained by The Independent, was marked "Top Secret" and "Extremely Urgent" and reached the unequivocal conclusion, in the words of its author's summary, "that civilian settlement in the administered territories contravenes the explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention."