'Unfathomable': UN rights chief condemns 500+ IOF killings in W.Bank
4 Min Read
Volker Turk has issued a strong statement calling for an end to the escalating violence in the occupied West Bank by Israeli occupation forces and settlers.
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A Palestinian child mourns over a family member one of five who were killed in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin during an overnight Israeli incursion, at the morgue of a hospital on November 26, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk renewed his call to end the escalating deadly Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank since October 7.
In a press release published by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), he urged accountability for the killing of over 500 Palestinians perpetrated by Israeli occupation forces and settlers.
The statement comes shortly after Israeli occupation forces fatally shot 16-year-old Ahmed Ashraf Hamidat and critically injured 17-year-old Mohammed Musa al-Bitar near the Aqabat Jaber refugee camp in Areeha. Al-Bitar succumbed to his injuries the next day. Their murder, along with the killing of four more Palestinians by IOF on Monday, brought the Palestinian death toll since October 7 to 505, according to the UN Human Rights Office.
"As if the tragic events in Israel and then Gaza over the past eight months were not enough, the people of the occupied West Bank are also being subjected to day-after-day of unprecedented bloodshed. It is unfathomable that so many lives have been taken in such a wanton fashion,” the High Commissioner stressed.
"The killing, destruction, and widespread human rights violations are unacceptable, and must cease immediately. Israel must not only adopt but enforce rules of engagement that are fully in line with applicable human rights norms and standards. Any allegation of unlawful killings must be thoroughly and independently investigated and those responsible held to account," he further added.
Today, an Israeli force murdered Adam Farraj while he was preparing to attend his sister's wedding in the West Bank city of Nablus. pic.twitter.com/15xgiWTQyx
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) June 3, 2024
He went on to say that "pervasive impunity" for such crimes has long been prevalent in the occupied West Bank, fostering an environment that allows for an increasing number of unlawful killings by the Israeli forces. He emphasized the necessity of respecting and enforcing international law and ensuring accountability.
'Israel' uses lethal force against Palestinians
The Israeli forces frequently resort to lethal force as a first response against Palestinian protesters throwing stones, incendiary bottles, and firecrackers at armored ISF vehicles, even when those shot did not pose an imminent threat to life, as per the OHCHR press release.
The high number of Palestinians shot in the upper body by Israeli forces, along with a recurring denial of medical assistance to the injured, indicates an intent to kill, violating the right to life, rather than a measured use of force aimed at de-escalating tense situations, it stressed.
"Fatality verification and in-depth monitoring of over 80 cases by the UN Human Rights Office indicates consistent violations of international human rights law on the use of force by the ISF through unnecessary and disproportionate use of lethal force and an increase in apparently planned targeted killings," said Turk. "They also show the systematic denial or delaying of medical assistance to those critically injured."
I don't think the average American has any idea what "normal" everyday life is like for Palestinians in the West Bank (not Gaza) under Israeli military occupation. It is utterly infuriating that we fund this depraved army. pic.twitter.com/iKeeNoybGD
— Omar Baddar عمر بدّار (@OmarBaddar) May 22, 2024
"The violence by the ISF and Israeli settlers, against the backdrop of the scale of killing and destruction continuing in Gaza, have instilled fear and insecurity among Palestinians in the occupied West Bank," he further emphasized.
The killing of Palestinians by the Israeli forces, which had already hit a record high in the first nine months of 2023, surged following October 7, the press release revealed.
Since the beginning of 2024, the Israeli forces have killed nearly 200 Palestinians, compared to 113 and 50 during the same periods in 2023 and 2022, respectively, it added.
Since October 7, despite the absence of armed confrontations in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli forces have conducted at least 29 militarized operations, using airstrikes from UAVs or planes and firing ground-to-ground missiles at refugee camps and other densely populated areas, as per the press release.
The press release reported that these aggressions have resulted in the killing of 164 Palestinians, including 35 children.
Read more: IOF killings of Palestinian children in West Bank occur with impunity
