Amman, Jan 7 (Petra) - A new United Nations report has documented the "suffocating effects" of Israeli laws, policies and practices against Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in a clear violation of international law, which obliges states to "prohibit and eradicate systems of racial segregation and apartheid." The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in its report issued on Wednesday that "Israeli authorities treat Israeli settlers and Palestinians residing in the West Bank under different legal regimes and policies, resulting in unequal treatment, particularly in vital matters, including freedom of movement and access to natural resources such as land and water." The report said there are "reasonable grounds to believe that the processes of separation, segregation and subjugation are intended to be permanent in order to maintain the oppression and control of Palestinians." It noted a worsening of the situation since Oct. 7, 2023, as the Israeli government has sought to expand the scope of its violations, including "the use of unlawful force, arbitrary detention and torture, the repression of civil society, and unjustified restrictions on media freedoms," leading to an unprecedented deterioration in the human rights situation.
The report said the military justice system "represents an important tool for controlling Palestinians" and does not provide them with the protections afforded by civil law to Israeli settlers. It also documented patterns of unlawful killings, other forms of state and settler violence, and the deliberate and unjustified use of lethal force, with a clear intent to kill.
It stressed that the establishment of new roads designated exclusively for Israeli settlers has led to the isolation of Palestinian communities from one another, alongside the displacement of thousands of Palestinians from their homes across the West Bank, "which may amount to unlawful population transfer, a war crime." UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said there is a "systematic suffocation of Palestinian rights in the West Bank," noting that all aspects of their lives are subject to Israeli control and restrictions, constituting an aggravated form of discrimination and segregation "that resembles the apartheid system we have seen before." He said, "Every negative pattern documented in the report has not only persisted but also accelerated, and every day that this situation is allowed to continue will have dire consequences for Palestinians." The report confirmed the prevalence of impunity for human rights violations, noting that out of more than 1,500 killings of Palestinians between Jan. 1, 2017, and Sept. 30 last year, Israeli authorities opened only 112 investigations, resulting in just one conviction.
It recalled the continued arbitrary detention of thousands of Palestinians by Israeli authorities, most of them under administrative detention, without charges or fair trials.
The report also pointed to the continued relentless expansion of illegal settlements, including the approval by Israel’s security cabinet of the construction of 19 new settlements, aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state, "according to statements by Israeli officials." Türk said Israeli authorities must "repeal all laws, policies and practices that entrench systematic discrimination against Palestinians on the basis of race, religion or ethnic origin," calling for an end to Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory, including "dismantling all settlements and evacuating settlers, and respecting the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination." //Petra// AF
