UN report highlights worsening human rights crisis in West Bank, urges occupation to halt unlawful killings

Geneva (Quds News Network) – In a newly released United Nations report, a stark depiction of the deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has been outlined since October 7. The report calls on the Israeli occupation to cease unlawful killings and settler violence against the Palestinian population.

The UN Human Rights Office, in its findings, verifies the deaths of 300 Palestinians from October 7 to December 27, with 79 children among them. Disturbingly, Israeli occupation forces were responsible for at least 291 of these fatalities, while settlers killed eight, and one Palestinian lost their life either at the hands of Israeli forces or settlers.

Notably, the period before October 7 saw the deaths of 200 Palestinians in the region, marking the highest toll in a 10-month span since the UN began recording in 2005.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, expressed deep concern, stating, “The use of military tactics, unnecessary or disproportionate force, and arbitrary movement restrictions are extremely troubling.”

Türk urged the occupying Israeli regime to take immediate and effective action against settler violence, investigate all incidents involving settlers and Israeli occupation forces, and protect Palestinian communities from forced displacement.

The report covers the period from October 7 to November 20, revealing a surge in airstrikes, incursions, and bulldozer deployments in densely populated areas, causing casualties and extensive damage.

Ongoing military incursions resulted in at least 105 Palestinian deaths, including 23 children. An egregious example occurred on October 19-20, during a 30-hour-long incursion into Nour Shams Refugee Camp, where Israeli forces killed 14 Palestinians, including six children.

Israeli occupation forces have arrested over 4,700 Palestinians, including about 40 journalists, employing severe mistreatment, such as strip searches, blindfolding, and physical abuse. The weeks following October 7 witnessed a sharp increase in settler attacks, averaging six incidents per day, involving shootings, arson, and uprooting of trees.

Settlers, sometimes accompanied by Israeli soldiers, attacked Palestinians harvesting olives, stealing crops and damaging trees, causing significant financial losses.

The UN report also highlights the dehumanization of Palestinians by settlers and emphasizes the urgent need for Israeli occupation authorities to condemn and prevent settler violence.

Since October 7, says the report, Israeli authorities have imposed systematic restrictions on Palestinian movement, closing entrances to villages and towns and obstructing main roads with gates, mounds, and concrete blocks.

The report reiterates calls for an end to measures fostering a coercive environment and underscores the pressing need for international attention to address the escalating human rights crisis in the West Bank.

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