Chicago – April 16, 2024
The United Nations Human Rights Office has urged Israel to discontinue its support for settlers’ attacks in the occupied West Bank.
The demand came on Tuesday, a day after Israeli settlers killed two Palestinians in the West Bank following the death of a Palestinian teenager during a military operation.
Separately, on Saturday, dozens of Israeli settlers raided the town of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, killing one Palestinian and injuring at least 25 others after a 14-year-old settler went missing.
According to Ravina Shamdasani, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Israel, as the occupying power, must take all measures in its power to restore and ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety in the occupied West Bank.”
The Palestinian Health Ministry reports that at least 466 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since October 7.
Separately, the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq said in a statement on Tuesday that 112 children have been killed by the Israeli military and three more by settlers since October 7.
According to Al-Haq, settler attacks have more than doubled, from three to eight incidents per day. The rate of Palestinian displacement has more than doubled, with an average of 280 Palestinians displaced per month as a result of settlement expansion, the highest level since UN monitoring began in 2017.
On Tuesday, Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) encouraged the international community, as well as private actors and businesses, to take action to end the violence against Palestinians.
Meanwhile, a senior UN official revealed that a $2.8 billion donation drive will be launched on Wednesday to assist Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
