The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, presented her annual reports on the situation of human rights and settlements in occupied Palestine to the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The two reports cover the general human rights situation and the human rights implications of the Israeli settlement.
Bachelet confirmed that the Israeli occupation forces continue to use excessive force against Palestinian civilians.
“The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli Security Forces in law enforcement incidents more than tripled, compared with the previous reporting period. Israeli Security Forces killed 74 Palestinians, including 17 boys and three women, compared to 23 during the last reporting period,” she said in a press release.
Bachelet pointed out that in the vast majority of cases documented by her office revealed that the occupation forces use of excessive force was unlawful.
Bachelet added that “Alarmingly, settler violence continued to increase”, pointing out that “incidents of armed settlers carrying out attacks inside Palestinian communities, with the acquiescence, or, on occasion, practical support of Israeli Security Forces.”
The report sheds light on the situation in the village of Humsa al-Baqi’a where the Israeli authorities demolished 196 structures, displacing 365 Palestinians, including 209 children. These actions placed the community under extreme pressure to move and appear to have led to at least 98 people leaving their homes.
Bachelet indicated that “the blockade of Gaza, which entered its fifteenth year, continued to have an extremely harmful impact on the rights of the entire civilian population,” and has led to a sharp deterioration in Palestinian human rights in flagrant violation of international law. She called on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities and hold the occupation officials accountable for their violations and crimes against the Palestinian people.
