UN human rights office says Israeli assaults risk ‘seriously deepening’ conflict
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) says Israel’s assaults on the occupied West Bank risk “seriously deepening” an already “catastrophic situation” there.
OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement that the 637 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank since October 7 represents the highest death toll over a comparable period in two decades and Israeli forces have ramped up abuses already endemic to the occupation.
“Thousands of Palestinians have been arbitrarily arrested and tortured, subjected to unrelenting settler violence, severe restrictions on movement and expression, their homes and property destroyed or seized, and forcibly displaced,” the statement reads. “Israel, as the occupying power, must abide by its obligations under international law.”
EU foreign policy chief slams Israeli foreign minister’s comments on West Bank operations
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has expressed alarm over comments from Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz about Israeli operations in the occupied West Bank.
Katz likened the Israeli raids to the war in Gaza and said the “temporary evacuation” of Palestinians – a term with unsettling connotations in the West Bank, where Israel has been forcing Palestinians from their lands for decades – was on the table.
“The Israeli major military operation in the occupied West Bank must not constitute the premises of a war extension from Gaza, including full-scale destruction,” Borrell said in a social media post.
The parallel drawn by Katz, “especially on evacuating Palestinian residents, threatens to fuel further instability”, Borrell wrote.
The Israeli major military operation in the occupied West Bank must not constitute the premises of a war extension from Gaza, incl. full-scale destruction.
The parallel drew by Minister Katz, especially on evacuating Palestinian residents, threatens to fuel further instability.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) August 28, 2024
Israel says it ‘failed’ to stop deadly settler attack
The Israeli military said that it “failed” to stop a large attack by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank that killed a Palestinian man earlier this month.
Major General Avi Bluth said in a statement that Israeli forces did not respond adequately to a settler attack targeting the Palestinian town of Jit, where residents said a group of about 100 settlers descended on the town armed with knives and firearms, setting fire to cars and homes in the village.
Palestinians have long maintained that violent settler attacks, which have surged in the occupied West Bank since October 7 and often occur as Israeli soldiers stand idly by or participate themselves, are not cases of rogue violence but consistent with a larger state-backed effort to push Palestinians off of their land.
“Several members of the rapid response team from a nearby [settlement] community, who were not in active reserve duty, arrived at the scene without authorisation, dressed in uniform, and acted contrary to the authority defined for the members of the rapid response team,” the statement added.
