UN report calls on Israel to 'end unlawful killings' in West Bank

A United Nations report published Thursday details the “rapidly deteriorating human rights situation” in the West Bank and called on Israel to end the “unlawful killings” against Palestinians.

The report, published by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), called for an “immediate end to the use of military weapons and means during law enforcement operations” and an end to the “arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of Palestinians.”

The report found that from Oct. 7 — when Hamas invaded Israel in a surprise attack — until Dec. 27, there have been 291 Palestinian deaths in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, by the Israel Security Forces (ISF). A majority of the deaths were men, but at least 79 children have been killed in the West Bank.

At least 105 deaths were recorded during ISF law enforcement operations using airstrikes or other military tactics, and 201 were recorded during ISF operations or confrontations not involving an exchange of fire, the report said.

There were nearly 5,000 arrests that were “regularly accompanied” by physical, psychological and sexual abuse.

According to The Associated Press, over 500,00 Israelis live in settlements built in the occupied West Bank. The U.N. report found that settlers “took advantage of the permissive environment” after Oct. 7 “to accelerate displacement” and violence against Palestinian communities and expand Israeli control.

“The violations documented in this report repeat the pattern and nature of violations reported in the past in the context of the long-standing Israeli occupation of the West Bank,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said in a statement. “However, the intensity of the violence and repression is something that has not been seen in years.”

The report urged Israel’s government to take steps to end the killing of Palestinians in the West Bank to ensure use of force complies with international law. It asked that Palestinians arrested be released and to end and reverse settlement activities.

The report asked for the international community — including the Security Council, the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly — to ensure that “those responsible for settler violence are appropriately held to account” and to prevent the “further deterioration of human rights” in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

OHCHR has also called the casualties in Gaza “appalling” and urged Israeli forces to avoid targeting civilians.

The U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, where Israel has focused much of its military attention and killed approximately 20,000 people. The U.N. Security Council, which can pass legally-binding resolutions, tried to move a measure demanding Israel ceases-fire, but it was blocked by the United States.