JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli authorities and settlers have seized large tracts of land in the occupied West Bank for security zones around Jewish settlements beyond an Israeli-built barrier, a human rights group said on Thursday.

Russia has urged the United Nations’ highest court to dismiss a case brought by Georgia, accusing Moscow of human rights violations in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Israel has annexed thousands of hectares of West Bank land beside the barrier it is building, according to an Israeli rights group.