The shooting, which took place on Thursday in the occupied West Bank, appeared to be captured on video by a television crew, OHCHR Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence told journalists in Geneva on Friday.
He noted that while Israeli authorities have announced an internal review, remarks by a senior official seeming to absolve security forces of wrongdoing “raise serious concerns about the credibility of any future review or investigation conducted by any entity that is not fully independent from the Government.”
Laurence said the incident forms part of a sharp rise in killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces and settlers since October 7, 2023. OHCHR has verified that at least 1 030 Palestinians, including 233 children, have been killed in the West Bank in that period.
“Impunity for Israeli security forces’ unlawful use of force, and ever-growing Israeli settler violence, must end,” he said, adding that UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has called for independent, prompt and effective investigations and full accountability for those responsible.
The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said violence across the West Bank continues unabated, with casualties, property destruction and displacement reported daily.
More than 1 600 settler attacks since January have resulted in injuries, damage or both, affecting over 270 Palestinian communities. More than 1 000 Palestinians have been injured in these incidents, about 700 of them directly by settlers, a figure nearly double last year’s total.
The remainder were injured either by Israeli forces or in circumstances where responsibility could not be determined.
OCHA also reported that UN personnel and facilities in Gaza continue to face attacks despite the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
On Monday, a schoolyard at an UNRWA facility in Jabalya, northern Gaza, was hit, reportedly by an Israeli quadcopter. The following night, armed Palestinians fired on a clearly marked UNOPS vehicle in Deir Al-Balah as a team completed monitoring work at the Kerem Shalom crossing.
Nobody was injured in either incident, but OCHA stressed that the safety of humanitarian staff remains under grave threat.
–UN/ChannelAfrica–
