UN rapporteurs, “alarmed” at the growing “terror” exercised by settlers in occupied Palestinian territories

Several UN rapporteurs have expressed this Monday their “alarm” at the growing “terror” exercised by Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, which poses an “existential risk for Palestinian communities and their presence on the territory.”

“The endless attacks by the settler colonial movement, carried out with the complicity of the State of Israel, have become a daily terror for the lives of Palestinians, who feel a deep uncertainty and insecurity that inevitably leads to the forced displacement of the indigenous population,” the experts said in a joint statement.

In this sense, they have clarified that this forced displacement “is increasing”, as is violence, increasingly perpetrated with “greater impunity as an instrument of coercion at the hands of an occupying power.” “This facilitates ethnic cleansing,” they warned, while lamenting the increase in Palestinians killed or injured in attacks carried out by settlers throughout this year.

“The brutality exercised by these settlers has reached an unprecedented level throughout this year, with at least thirteen Palestinians killed and 500 injured in just five months. Both one thing and another has exceeded the data recorded in previous years,” he noted.

“Violence is being used as a calculated and purposeful tool to deny Palestinians access to essential services, agrarian areas and areas connected to their own land,” they warned, before clarifying that some 663 square kilometers of land could be subject to the presence of settlements.

In this sense, they have explained that especially the Palestinian communities located in Area C of the West Bank – which are under the complete military and civil control of Israel – are “disproportionately affected”, especially in areas of the Jordan Valley and the Hebron Hills, where they “face violence and displacement.”

“The recent regional escalation has diverted international attention from the reality in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. As diplomatic efforts focus on other parts of the region, accountability for growing settler violence and the resulting displacement of people has faded,” they said. “Without opposition or censorship, Israel continues to irreversibly erode the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, enshrined in International Law,” they noted.

Experts have urged Israel to “immediately cease” its support for settler violence and forced displacement, including financial, military, legislative and political support for settlements and outposts, and to ensure accountability for attacks and effective protection of Palestinian communities. “They also demanded the safe and dignified return of displaced residents and guaranteed access to residential, agricultural and grazing lands,” they added.

“Despite the blatant illegality of its occupation of the West Bank, Israel remains bound as an occupying power under the Geneva Conventions, including the duty to treat the Palestinian population as protected persons under international law,” they stated.