West Bank violence, annexation 'only getting worse': UN

GENEVA: Two years after the International Court of Justice said Israel’s occupation of the West Bank was unlawful, settler violence and territorial annexation is “only getting worse”, the UN said Wednesday.

The United Nations’ human rights office said that with attacks by Israeli settlers and the creation of outposts “hitting an all-time high”, countries had to act to end the occupation.

“We are alarmed by the Israeli government’s announcement to further increase the number of settlements and outposts, and open calls by Israeli leaders for revenge and collective punishment against Palestinian communities, accompanied by threats to turn the West Bank into another Gaza,” rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.

In a sweeping, non-binding “advisory opinion” issued in July 2024, the UN’s top court said that Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territory was “illegal”.

Israel is “under the obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence as rapidly as possible”, presiding judge Nawaf Salam said.

Violence in the West Bank has surged since the Gaza war began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

The West Bank has seen near-daily attacks by Israeli settlers and regular raids on Palestinian villages.

Shamdasani said that since last Thursday, eight Palestinians, including a boy, as well as two members of the Israeli military had been killed in the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.

“Settlers and Israeli security forces, often acting together, have attacked local communities, assaulting families, destroying and confiscating property, and burning mosques,” she said.

“Movement restrictions are now tighter, blocking Palestinians from reaching essential services.”

‘States must act urgently’

Last Friday, deadly clashes broke out last between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the village of Tell that left four Palestinians and two Israelis dead.

The Israeli military subsequently raided the city of Nablus and several nearby towns, announcing the arrest of dozens of Palestinians as it launched what it described as a “counter-terrorism” operation in the West Bank.

Overnight Sunday, Palestinian officials said Israeli settlers set fire to two mosques.

“With attacks by Israeli settlers, and the creation of settlements and outposts, hitting an all-time high, third states must act urgently and in unison to halt the continuing killing and dispossession of the Palestinian people, and to bring an end to the Israeli occupation,” Shamdasani said.

The comments came after Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN’s deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, warned the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the situation in the West Bank was “rapidly deteriorating”.

Since the start of the Gaza war, at least 1,097 Palestinians, including militants, have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers, according to Palestinian figures.

Official Israeli data shows that at least 48 Israelis, civilians and security personnel, have been killed in attacks by Palestinians or during Israeli military operations.

Excluding annexed east Jerusalem, around three million Palestinians live in the West Bank alongside more than 500,000 Israelis residing in settlements that are illegal under international law.