• The rapid increase in violence over the last year has been unprecedented, owing to regular sweeps by Israeli forces leading to clashes with Palestinians.
• Last week, Israeli forces called in helicopters during a long gunbattle killing seven Palestinians, which included two minors.
The situation in Israeli-occupied West Bank is deteriorating rapidly with the United Nations human rights calling on Israel to reset its policies and comply with international law. The surge in violence over the last year has been unprecedented, owing to regular sweeps by Israeli forces leading to deadlyclashes with Palestinians.
Israeli settlers have also been actively involved in clashes with Palestinians in the West Bank, which is envisaged as the core of an independent state by the latter. A military rule has been maintained by Israel over millions of Palestinians with the expansion continuing majorly since 2014, even as the U.S-sponsored statehood talks remain in disarray.
At a UN briefing in Geneva, Volter Turk said “This week’s violence in the occupied West Bank risks spiralling out of control, fuelled by strident political rhetoric, and an escalation in the use of advanced military weaponry by Israel.”
While referring to the air strikes conducted by Israeli forces with helicopter gunships on Jenin refugee camp, Turk called them ‘a major intensification of the use of weaponry more generally associated with the conduct of armed hostilities, rather than a law enforcement situation.”
Last week, Israeli forces had called in helicopters during a long gunbattle killing seven Palestinians, which included twominors. This year, UN rights office has recorded killings of 126 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem.
According to the International human rights law, it is the responsibility of Israeli authorities to ensure all the operations are planned and implemented while using minimal lethal weapons. The law also requires Israel forces to investigate deaths caused in such context. Suspected perpetrators must be held to account in case of obtaining sufficient evidence, states the law.
However, Israel’s compliance with the international law has been questioned by several activists, scholars and journalists over the last many decades. Even the last week, several reports of assaults on Palestinians communities emerged with Israeli forces and settlers working ‘hand in glove’ to set fire to the homes and vehicles of Palestinians and killing dozens by using several lethal weapons.
