United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called for an end to the “unprecedented bloodshed” in the occupied West Bank, considering the killing of more than 500 Palestinians there since October 7 “irrational.”
Turk confirmed the killing of 505 Palestinians in the West Bank at the hands of the Israeli army and settlers since the war broke out in Gaza, and Palestinian sources spoke of a toll of at least 523 people, in addition to the arrest of about 9,000 Palestinians.
Turk said in a statement that the residents of the occupied West Bank are exposed day after day to unprecedented bloodshed, adding that it is absolutely illogical for such a large number of lives to be claimed in this brutal manner.
Türk stressed that killing, destruction and widespread human rights violations are unacceptable and must stop immediately.
He continued that Israel must not only adopt rules of engagement that are fully consistent with applicable human rights rules and standards, but also strengthen their implementation, calling for all those responsible for the supposed killings to be held accountable.
He denounced the fact that impunity for such crimes has become common for a very long time in the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967 and witnessed an escalation in violence even before October 7.
Turk pointed out that last weekend, Israeli forces killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy and seriously injured another, who subsequently died near the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp in Jericho. He stated that surveillance cameras showed that they were shot at from a distance of 70 meters while they were escaping after being thrown at. A military site with stones and Molotov cocktails.
Turk’s statement said that the Israeli army has traditionally used lethal force as a first resort against Palestinian demonstrators, in cases where “those who were shot did not pose an imminent threat to life.”
He warned that the violence practiced by Israeli security forces and settlers, against the backdrop of the ongoing scale of killing and destruction in Gaza, has sown fear and insecurity among Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.