UN human rights chief accuses Israel of ‘wanton’ killing in West Bank since Oct. 7
Volker Turk says it is ‘unfathomable’ that more than 500 West Bank Palestinians have died since start of war; Israel says vast majority killed during clashes amid arrest raids
United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said on Tuesday that it was “unfathomable” that more than 500 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank since October 7.
Two dozen Israelis, including eight soldiers, have also been killed in West Bank clashes or alleged attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank during the same period, Turk noted.
“As if the tragic events in Israel and then Gaza over the past eight months were not enough, the people of the occupied West Bank are also being subjected to day-after-day of unprecedented bloodshed,” he said in a statement.
“It is unfathomable that so many lives have been taken in such a wanton fashion,” he added.
On October 7, thousands of Hamas-led terrorists poured into Israel from Gaza, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, triggering the ongoing war between Israel and the terror group.
Since then, troops have arrested some 4,000 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,700 affiliated with Hamas. According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 510 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time.
Based on Israeli military estimates, the vast majority of those killed were shot during violent clashes amid arrest raids.
As recently as Tuesday morning, the Israel Defense Forces said troops had killed two terror suspects near the West Bank city of Tulkarem as they were headed to open fire at Israeli towns across the security barrier, following several recent shooting attacks.
Earlier, on Monday, the Israel Police said undercover Border Police officers had killed a wanted Palestinian in the West Bank city of Nablus.
Turk cited a case over the weekend in which Israeli forces shot dead a teenager and critically injured another who later died near the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp near Jericho.
He claimed CCTV footage indicated that the boys were shot at a distance of 70 meters while running away after throwing stones and/or Molotov cocktails toward a military post.
The IDF did not confirm the deaths at the time, but said two suspects had hurled Molotov cocktails toward the nearby settlement of Vered Yeriho, endangering civilians and property.
IDF kills ‘as first resort,’ Turk charges
Turk said that the Israeli military had often used lethal force “as a first resort against Palestinian protesters… in cases where those shot clearly did not represent an imminent threat to life.”
He cited a “prevalence of Palestinians who died after being shot in the upper part of the body, along with a pattern of the denial of medical assistance to those injured.”
This pattern “suggests intent to kill in violation of the right to life, rather than a graduated application of force and an attempt to de-escalate tense situations,” the statement said.
“The killing, destruction and widespread human rights violations are unacceptable, and must cease immediately,” Turk said in his statement.
“Israel must not only adopt, but enforce rules of engagement that are fully in line with applicable human rights norms and standards,” he said, demanding accountability for all alleged unlawful killings.
