The UN asked Israel on Thursday, December 28, to “put an end to unlawful killings” among the Palestinian population in the occupied West Bank, while publishing a report denouncing a rapid deterioration of human rights there. “The use of military tactics and weapons in law enforcement contexts, the use of unnecessary and disproportionate force, and the application of broad, arbitrary and discriminatory movement restrictions affecting Palestinians are of grave concern “, said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, in a statement. “The intensity of the violence and repression is unheard of in years,” he added.
The United Nations denounces in its report a rapid deterioration of human rights in the occupied West Bank, calls for an immediate end to the use of weapons and military means in law enforcement operations and also calls for an end arbitrary detentions and mistreatment of Palestinians, as well as the lifting of discriminatory movement restrictions.
This report is devoted to the human rights situation in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem annexed by Israel between October 7, the date of the bloody offensive carried out in Israel by Hamas, and November 20. Over the period studied, the report shows a “sharp increase” in airstrikes and incursions into refugee camps and other densely populated areas, which caused “deaths, injuries and widespread damage” to civilian infrastructure. .
In the weeks following October 7, the report noted a “sharp increase in settler attacks,” with “shootings, arson of homes and vehicles, and uprooting of trees.”
“Investigate all violent incidents”
Mr. Türk called on Israel to “take immediate, clear and effective measures to end settler violence against the Palestinian population, investigate all violent incidents involving settlers and Israeli security forces to ensure effective protection of Palestinian communities against any form of forced transfer, and to ensure the return to their lands of herding communities displaced due to attacks by armed settlers”.
The UN Human Rights Office says it verified the deaths of 300 Palestinians, including 79 children, between October 7 and December 27 in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Of this total, “Israeli security forces killed at least 291 Palestinians, settlers killed eight, and one Palestinian was killed either by Israeli security forces or settlers.”
Before October 7, according to the same source, 7,200 Palestinians had already been killed in this area during 2023, the highest number in ten months since 2005, when the UN began recording these deaths. Türk called on Israel to grant access to his office in the country, which he said was ready to produce a similar report on the October 7 attacks.