GENEVA 

Israeli army’s large-scale offensive in the occupied West Bank “risks seriously deepening the already catastrophic situation in the occupied Palestinian territory,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said on Wednesday. 

The official said in a written statement: “A major operation by Israeli security forces (ISF) in the occupied West Bank risks seriously deepening the already catastrophic situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

“Israel’s operations in Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarm today, and the killing of at least nine Palestinians, two of them reportedly children, take the overall death toll in the West Bank since 7 October to 637,” she stressed.

“This represents the highest number of fatalities over a period of eight months since the UN first started recording casualties in the West Bank two decades ago,” she indicated.

Shamdasani further stated: “Many children have been killed while throwing stones at highly protected ISF, as have other Palestinians posing no imminent threat to life or serious injury.”

“Such unnecessary or disproportionate use of force and the increase in apparent targeted and other summary killings are alarming,” the spokesperson emphasized, noting that thousands of Palestinians have faced arbitrary arrests, torture, settler violence, severe movement and expression restrictions, property destruction, and forced displacement.

Calling on Israeli authorities to “abide by its obligations under international law,” the official stressed: “The Israeli security forces’ use of airstrikes and other military weapons and tactics violates human rights norms and standards applicable to law enforcement operations.”

“Alleged unlawful killings must be thoroughly and independently investigated and those responsible held to account,” she added.

Earlier, the Israeli army launched a major military operation in the northern West Bank, the largest in two decades.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the army operation includes the “temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents" from areas in the northern West Bank.

At least ten Palestinians have been killed since the start of the operation, according to the latest figures released by the Health Ministry.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank amid a brutal Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 40,500, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.

At least 660 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 5,400 others injured in the occupied territory, according to Palestinian figures.

In a landmark opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land unlawful and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Merve Berker