The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has highlighted the deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) in two reports being presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The reports cover the general human rights situation as well as a focus on the human rights impacts of Israeli settlements. Based on in-country monitoring carried out by the UN Human Rights Office, the High Commissioner draws attention to the ongoing resort by Israeli Security Forces to excessive use of force against Palestinians.
“There was a steep increase in the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli Security Forces in incidents of apparent excessive use of force in comparison to the previous reporting period. Israeli Security Forces killed 74 Palestinians, including 17 boys, 54 men and three women during law enforcement operations, including four in Gaza” the High Commissioner reported.
She noted that in the vast majority of cases monitored by her Office, the resort to firearms or other lethal force by the Israeli occupation forces was unjustified. “Such recurring cases, along with consistent failure to ensure accountability, suggests a permissive policy concerning use of lethal force against Palestinians, in violation of their right to life.”
The High Commissioner also addressed violations of international humanitarian law during the Israeli aggression on Gaza, collective punishment, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, restrictions to freedom of movement and civic space.
In addressing Israeli settlements, the High Commissioner notes that “systematic and increasingly severe settler violence – with the acquiescence or, on occasion, practical support by Israeli Security Forces – is contributing to the worsening of the coercive environment for Palestinians”.
The report highlights the situation in Humsa al Bqai’a where Israeli actions placed the Bedouin community under extreme pressure and appear to have led to at least 98 persons leaving their homes.
The High Commissioner reiterates that forcible transfer is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and amounts to a war crime. The year to the end of October 2021 saw the highest numbers ever recorded by the UN of incidents of settler violence and demolitions carried out by Israeli authorities.
Other issues covered by the two reports include settlement expansions and consolidations; and Israel’s restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly of Palestinians protesting against the settlement-related activities and the wider context of the occupation.
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