Amman: The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned on Tuesday that Israeli settlers and security forces have escalated “killings, assaults, and harassment” of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in recent weeks, contributing to what it described as the “entrenchment of annexation” in flagrant violation of international law.
According to Jordan News Agency, the UN agency highlighted that since the launch of Israel’s so-called “Operation Iron Wall” in the northern West Bank earlier this year, nearly 30,000 Palestinians remain forcibly displaced. Israeli forces have reportedly opened live fire on unarmed Palestinians, including those attempting to return to their homes in the Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams refugee camps.
The Office noted that Israeli security forces “have frequently used unnecessary or disproportionate force, including lethal force, against Palestinians who posed no imminent threat to life.” Since October 7, 2023, at least 964 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, by Israeli forces and settlers.
The UN added that since the beginning of Operation Iron Wall, Israeli occupation authorities have issued demolition orders for around 1,400 homes in the northern West Bank.
The commission stressed that “the permanent displacement of civilians within occupied territory amounts to unlawful transfer and constitutes a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention. It may also amount to a crime against humanity.”