The U.N. human rights office called on Israeli security forces to immediately end their active participation in and support for attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
The statement Tuesday follows a wave of settler attacks on Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank triggered by the killing of a 14-year-old Israeli boy in what authorities say was a militant attack.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says seven Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers since the attacks began Friday, and another 75 have been wounded. Israeli authorities have urged people not to resort to vigilante attacks as tensions soar. But rights groups have long accused Israeli forces of routinely ignoring settler attacks or even taking part in them.
Tensions in the region have ramped up since the start of the latest Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, when Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant groups backed by Iran, carried out a devastating cross-border attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others. Israel responded with an offensive in Gaza that has caused widespread devastation and killed over 33,800 people, according to local health officials.
Four people killed in a house explosion in southwestern Missouri
Women's Team Helps Residents Improve Understanding of Laws
1 dead, 4 wounded after shooting at Nashville restaurant in US
2024 China Internet Media Forum Opens in Yunnan Province
Storms damage homes in Oklahoma and Kansas. But in Houston, most power is restored
Tongzi Women's Federation Promotes Sex
What a blast to work at NASA. Space agency is sky
Health Express for Mothers Project Benefits Women in Old Revolutionary Base