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UN chief ‘deeply concerned’ by Israel’s assault on the West Bank
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for “an immediate cessation” of Israel’s operations in the occupied West Bank, including its assault on Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas governorates, according to a statement.
The UN chief strongly condemned the loss of lives, including of children, and urged Israel to protect civilians and ensure their safety.
“All those injured must have access to medical care, and humanitarian workers must be able to reach everyone in need,” he said.
“These dangerous developments are fuelling an already explosive situation in the occupied West Bank and further undermining the Palestinian Authority,” he added.
Guterres also expressed concern over “dangerous and provocative acts and statements” by Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has led Israelis in the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound several times since the war on Gaza began and called for a synagogue to be built there.
Israel elevates use of lethal force in occupied West Bank to ‘war standards’: Analyst
Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch and visiting professor at Princeton University, said the increasing levels of Israeli violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank was a “very grave development”.
Under Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territory, the standard of policing should be that which applies to normal law enforcement, “to the police on the street”, Roth told Al Jazeera.
“That means you cannot use lethal force except as a last resort to meet an imminent lethal threat,” Roth said.
“Now, it looks like that is not what Israel is doing. It is bombing away. And, indeed, the Israeli foreign minister – Israel Katz – said that this is a war. Now, in war, you can just shoot the other side’s combatants. No need to try and capture them. Nothing about last resort,” he said.
“So, Israel is now escalating its standards for the use of lethal force to war standards. That is a very grave development,” he added.
Israel’s West Bank operation must not go ‘down the path’ of Gaza: Analyst
“The last thing that we want is this kind of massive displacement taking place in the West Bank too,” Roth told Al Jazeera.
“Frankly, ‘the dream’ of the far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s government is to ‘solve the problem’ of the West Bank. ‘Solve the problem’ of the apartheid regime that Israel is maintaining there, by just getting rid of the Palestinians,” Roth said.
“That would be a massive war crime. But this is what certain members of the Netanyahu government – whose votes in the Knesset Netanyahu needs to stay in power – this is what they talk about,” he said.
“This is an urgent reason to nip this in the bud and not to let this continue down the path that we have seen in Gaza,” he added.
