A United Nations report published yesterday, Thursday, denounced the “rapid deterioration” of human rights in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and urged the Israeli occupation authorities to end violence against Palestinians.
The report, published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that 300 Palestinians were martyred in the West Bank since October 7, including 79 children, and that 291 were martyred at the hands of Israeli soldiers, and 9 at the hands of settlers. Most of the killings of Palestinians occurred during operations carried out by the Israeli occupation forces or during confrontations with them.
At least 105 cases of martyrdom can be attributed to Israeli operations, which included launching air strikes or using military means inside refugee camps and other densely populated areas. The report added that at least 8 people were martyred by Jewish settlers.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights said that it also recorded mass arbitrary and illegal arrests, cases of torture and other forms of ill-treatment of arrested Palestinians.
The occupation forces have arrested about 4,785 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7, including 40 journalists.
The commission added, “Some of them were stripped of their clothes, blindfolded, and shackled for long hours, with their hands and feet tied, while Israeli soldiers stepped on their heads and backs, (and some Palestinians) were subjected to spit on, violently pushed against walls, threatened and insulted, and in some cases they were subjected to assault and sexual violence.”
“The use of tactical law enforcement means and weapons, the use of unnecessary or disproportionate force, and the imposition of widespread, arbitrary and discriminatory restrictions on movement affect Palestinians,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
Turk added, “I call on Israel to take immediate, clear and effective steps to put an end to settler violence against the Palestinian population, and to investigate all incidents of violence committed by settlers and Israeli security forces, to ensure effective protection of Palestinian communities.”
In his written statement on the report, Volker Türk described the treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank as “deeply disturbing,” adding that the human rights violations documented in this report are part of a long-term tragedy, and that the continued Israeli occupation of the West Bank is a repetition of previous violations. However, We have not seen this amount of violence and oppression in years.