Published: 19:57, June 23, 2023 | Updated: 21:09, June 23, 2023
UN rights chief: West Bank risks 'spiralling out of control'
By Reuters

This photo shows a livestock market in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron on June 23, 2023, as Palestinians prepare for the upcoming Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha. (PHOTO / AFP)

GENEVA — The United Nations human rights said on Friday the situation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank was deteriorating sharply and he called on Israel to reset its policies and comply with international law.

Violence has surged in the West Bank, where the Israeli military has for over a year been conducting regular sweeps leading to repeated clashes with Palestinian fighters. Israeli settlers have also been involved in clashes.

Israel's mission in Geneva said Israel is "well aware of its responsibility under international law and acts in accordance with its international obligations at all times"

"This week's violence in the occupied West Bank risks spiralling out of control, fuelled by strident political rhetoric, and an escalation in the use of advanced military weaponry by Israel," Volker Turk said via a spokesperson at a UN briefing in Geneva.

READ MORE: End settlement in West Bank immediately, Guterres tells Israel

He referred to air strikes with helicopter gunships on Jenin refugee camp on Monday, calling them a "major intensification of the use of weaponry more generally associated with the conduct of armed hostilities, rather than a law enforcement situation".

The helicopters were called in as troops were engaged in a long gunbattle that killed seven Palestinians, including two minors.

"Israel must urgently reset its policies and actions in the West Bank in line with international human rights standards, including protecting and respecting the right to life," he said.

Israel occupied the West Bank, which Palestinians envisage as the core of an independent state, in the 1967 Middle East war. US-sponsored statehood talks have been frozen since 2014, while Israel has maintained military rule over millions of Palestinians and continued to expand Jewish settlements.

Israel's mission in Geneva said Israel is "well aware of its responsibility under international law and acts in accordance with its international obligations at all times".

'Deeper into abyss'

The day after the Jenin raid, Palestinian gunmen shot dead four Israelis near a Jewish settlement in retaliation.

Turk called it "appalling" that such killings were celebrated by some Palestinians.

READ MORE: UN chief concerned by Israel legalizing West Bank settlement outposts

So far this year, the UN rights office has recorded killings of 126 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem.

That follows a toll of 155 Palestinians last year which was a 17-year high. The UN rights office has raised the latest surge in violence with both governments, the spokesperson added.

Since January, 24 Israelis and one foreigner have been killed in attacks by Palestinians, Israeli authorities say.

"These latest killings and the violence along with the inflammatory rhetoric serve only to drive Israelis and Palestinians deeper into an abyss," Turk said.