UN: Israeli Settlement Expansion in West Bank Reaches Record High
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has reported that attacks by Israeli settlers and the expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank have reached their highest levels.
Expressing concern over the increasing trend of settlement construction, the agency emphasized that Israel’s recent announcement to increase the number of settlements and outposts has further complicated the situation.
Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated in a press release: “We are concerned about Israel’s declaration to further increase the number of settlements and outposts, along with explicit calls by Israeli leaders for revenge and collective punishment against Palestinian communities, coupled with threats to turn the West Bank into another Gaza.”
She called on the international community to “act urgently and in a coordinated manner to halt the ongoing killings and dispossession of the Palestinian people and to end the Israeli occupation.”
The West Bank has been under Israeli occupation since 1967, and the expansion of settlements in this region has always been a central source of tension and international criticism.
