Two years after the International Court of Justice said Israel’s occupation of the West Bank was unlawful, settler violence and territorial annexation is “only getting worse”, the UN said on Wednesday.
The United Nations’ human rights office said that with attacks by Israeli settlers and the creation of outposts “hitting an all-time high”, countries had to act to end the occupation.
“We are alarmed by the Israeli government’s announcement to further increase the number of settlements and outposts, and open calls by Israeli leaders for revenge and collective punishment against Palestinian communities, accompanied by threats to turn the West Bank into another Gaza,” rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.
In a sweeping, non-binding “advisory opinion” issued in July 2024, the UN’s top court said that Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territory was “illegal”.
Israel is “under the obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence as rapidly as possible”, presiding judge Nawaf Salam said.
Violence in the occupied West Bank has surged since the the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023.
The West Bank has seen near-daily attacks by illegal Israeli settlers and regular raids on Palestinian villages.
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Shamdasani said that since last Thursday, eight Palestinians, including a boy, as well as two members of the Israeli military had been killed in the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.
“Settlers and Israeli security forces, often acting together, have attacked local communities, assaulting families, destroying and confiscating property, and burning mosques,” she said.
