UN rights chief condemns ‘unprecedented bloodshed’ in occupied West Bank
Al Jazeera
Israeli forces kill and arrest dozens in the occupied territory as Volker Turk condemns impunity.
The United Nations has renewed its call for an end to violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Volker Turk said in a statement released on Tuesday that in addition to the death toll in the Gaza Strip, “the people of the occupied West Bank are also being subjected to day after day of unprecedented bloodshed”. The UN human rights chief’s words came as the Israeli military and settlers carried out new attacks in the territory.
“Pervasive impunity for such crimes has been commonplace for far too long in the occupied West Bank,” he said, adding that this has created an environment for more “unlawful killings” by Israeli forces.
According to Turk, Israeli forces shot dead 16-year-old Ahmed Ashraf Hamidat on June 1 and critically wounded 17-year-old Mohammed Musa al-Bitar, who died a day later, near the Aqabat Jaber refugee camp in Jericho.
They were shot in the back at a distance of about 70 metres while running away after throwing stones or Molotov cocktails at a military post in the occupied Palestinian territory, he said.
