Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank has intensified and is a violation of international law, the UN Human Rights Office said on Tuesday. A new report released by the office characterized the transfer of Israeli civilians into the West Bank as a war crime and urged international intervention into Israeli settlement policy.
The report, covering November 2023 to October 2024, highlights an increase in Israeli settlement construction, with plans for over 20,000 new housing units in East Jerusalem alone and the establishment of 49 new outposts in the West Bank. Israeli authorities also demolished 1,779 Palestinian structures, forcibly displacing more than 4,500 people, the report said.
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According to the report, settler violence against Palestinians has also increased and has become increasingly intertwined with Israeli state violence.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said that Israel’s settlement policy “violates Palestinians’ right to self-determination” and called for an immediate halt to settlement activities, the evacuation of settlers, and accountability for settler and security force violence.
Israel withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council earlier this year, citing systemic anti-Israel bias. After a separate UN Human Rights Council report accusing Israel of systematic sexual violence against Palestinians was released last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu harshly criticized the UN body, describing it as “an antisemitic, rotten and irrelevant organization that supports terrorism.”
Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva has not commented on the latest report.