U.N. rights chief “horrified” by occupation’s Gaza strikes, sounds alarm on West Bank annexation
The U.N. human rights chief on Tuesday expressed horror over “Israel’s” renewed strikes on Gaza, which led to the martyrdom of over 400 Palestinians, and warned of the escalating annexation of the West Bank.
“I am horrified by last night’s Israeli airstrikes and shelling in Gaza, which killed hundreds, according to the Ministry of Health in the strip. This will add tragedy onto tragedy,” said High Commissioner Volker Turk in a statement.
“Israel’s resort to yet more military force will only heap further misery upon a Palestinian population already suffering catastrophic conditions.”
In hospitals strained by 15 months of bombardment by the occupation forces, piles of bodies in white plastic sheets smeared with blood could be seen stacked up as casualties were brought in. Gaza’s health ministry said 404 people had been killed, many of them children, and 562people were injured.
Airstrikes hit houses and tent encampments from the north to south of the Gaza Strip and the occupation’s tanks shelled across the border line into the east and south of the besieged enclave.
In a situation echoing the onset of the genocidal war, thousands of Palestinians were displaced after receiving evacuation orders from the occupying forces.
In parallel with the large-scale strikes, the Zionist occupation closed the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza, preventing the departure of injured Palestinians for medical treatment abroad.
Moreover, it is noteworthy that the resumption of massacres coincided with the ongoing suffocating siege imposed on Gaza and the complete closure of the crossings, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis and depriving over 2.4 million Palestinians of basic necessities.
In this regard, the Palestinian foreign ministry called for “a firm international stance to enforce an immediate cessation of aggression and warn against the occupation’s attempts to implement its plans to displace our people.”
In the West Bank, a report, based on research between November 1, 2023, and October 31, 2024, said there had been a “significant” expansion of illegal settlements, including East Jerusalem, and cited reports of tens of thousands of planned housing units in new or existing settlements.
The findings will be presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council this month and come amid growing fears of annexation among Palestinians, as U.S. policy shifts under President Donald Trump and new settler outposts are put down in areas of the West Bank seen as part of a future Palestinian state.
“Israel’s settlement policy, its acts of annexation, and related discriminatory legislation and measures are in breach of international law, as the International Court of Justice has confirmed, and violate Palestinians’ right to self-determination,” Turk said.
“Israel must immediately and completely cease all settlement activities and evacuate all settlers, stop the forcible transfer of the Palestinian population, and prevent and punish attacks by its security forces and settlers,” he added.
The occupying authorities also demolished 1,779 Palestinian structures, forcibly displacing over 4,500 people. According to the report, the number of Palestinians displaced by demolitions surged by nearly 200% compared to the previous reporting period.
Since January, the occupying forces have escalated their aggression in the northern West Bank, including Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas, demolishing homes and infrastructure, which has led to the displacement of an estimated 40,000 Palestinians from their homes.
