UN Rights Chief Shocked By “Israeli” Tyranny: Situation in Occupied Palestine a Tragedy

By Staff, Agencies

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk voiced alarm at an “Israeli” entity minister's genocidal call for the obliteration of an entire Palestinian village.

Turk made the remarks on Friday, three days after the Zionist entity’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the Palestinian village of Huwara “needs to be wiped out”, adding that he thought “‘Israel’ should do it.”

Speaking before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Turk denounced the remarks as “an unfathomable statement of incitement to violence and hostility.”

“The situation in the occupied Palestinian territory is a tragedy, a tragedy above all for the Palestinian people,” Turk told the Human Rights Council as he formally presented a report on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Smotrich's remarks came after hundreds of armed “Israeli” settlers attacked Huwara and nearby villages and torched dozens of houses and cars.

One Palestinian was martyred during the settler rampage and at least 390 others were injured, with Palestinian media reporting stabbings and attacks with metal rods and rocks.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the UN official made a direct call for the “Israeli” regime to end its occupation of and settlement activities across the Palestinian territories.

“My report finds that over the reporting period, lethal force has been frequently employed by the ‘Israeli’ security forces [ISF] regardless of the level of threat and at times even as an initial measure rather than as last resort,” Turk said.

He further stated: “The report finds that 131 Palestinians were killed by ISF personnel over the past year in a context of law enforcement that is outside any context of hostilities. This includes 65 people who we understand were not armed nor engaged in any attacks or clashes.”

“The occupation is eating away at the health of both societies on every level, from childhood to old age and in every part of life. For this violence to end, the occupation must end,” he added, pointing out that “In the near future, there must be an end to settlements in the occupied land. And within a foreseeable horizon.”