UN chief calls on Israel to comply with international law amid ongoing operations in West Bank

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is alarmed by the escalating violence and large-scale Israeli security operations in the occupied West Bank, said his spokesman on Monday.

"I can tell you that the Secretary General is alarmed by the escalating violence, attacks and large scale Israeli security forces operations in the West bank's northern governance, including the deployment of Israeli tanks for the first time in over two decades," Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

Noting that the UN chief is "deeply concerned by the increasing number of fatalities, including children, and the mounting number of displaced Palestinians, and a broadening scope of civilian infrastructure destruction," Dujarric also said that Guterres is "appalled that children continue to be victim of violence."

"These attacks and mounting violence must end," he said, urging Israeli forces to "exercise maximum restraint and use intentional lethal force only when strictly unavoidable, to protect life."

Dujarric further stated that Guterres "firmly rejects statements by Israeli officials indicating the intention to remain in some northern occupied West Bank area for extended period and to refuse the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes."

"He calls on Israel to comply with its relevant obligations under international law and international humanitarian law as applicable, and to take measures to protect civilians and ensure their safety," Dujarric added.

Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Dujarric recalled Israeli killing of a 13-year-old girl near in Jenin refugee camp.

He also said that "in Qabatiya city, Jenin Governorate, residents have been ordered not to leave their homes, while bulldozers have razed roads – leading to electricity blackouts for some 40% of the population."

The Israeli army has been conducting military operations in the northern West Bank since last month, killing at least 60 people and displacing thousands.

The raids were the latest in Israel’s ongoing military escalation in the occupied West Bank where at least 923 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers since the start of the onslaught against the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The International Court of Justice declared in July that Israel’s long-standing occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, demanding the evacuation of all settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.