The UN chief voiced alarm Monday at rising violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and calls for annexation after Israel announced expanded military operations in the occupied Palestinian territory. Israel on Sunday said its troops would remain for many months in refugee camps in the occupied West Bank. Tens of thousands of Palestinians living there have been displaced by an intensifying military operation.
“I am gravely concerned by the rising violence in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers and other violations, as well as calls for annexation,” Antonio Guterres told the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. The military began a major raid against Palestinian militants in the West Bank’s north a month ago, just after a truce went into effect in the Gaza Strip, a separate Palestinian territory.
The West Bank offensive has gradually expanded, spanning multiple refugee camps near the cities of Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas. Also on Sunday, Israel’s military announced tank deployments in Jenin, where it was “expanding” operations. This marks the first time tanks have operated in the West Bank since the end of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in 2005. Violence in the West Bank has surged since the start of the Gaza war that began after Hamas’s deadly October 7, 2023 attack inside Israel. Guterres on Monday stressed the importance of the fragile ceasefire in place in Gaza since January 19.
“We are witnessing a precarious ceasefire. We must avoid at all costs a resumption of hostilities. The people in Gaza have already suffered too much,” he said. “It’s time for a permanent ceasefire, the dignified release of all remaining hostages, irreversible progress towards a two-state solution, an end to the occupation, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with Gaza as an integral part.”
