The UN human rights office has issued a report detailing what it calls Israel's 'systemic discrimination' against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and said the situation has 'drastically deteriorated' over the past three years.
Israeli laws, policies, and practices were having an 'asphyxiating impact' on every aspect of daily life for Palestinians and violated an international convention against racial discrimination, it said.
'This is a particularly severe form of racial discrimination and segregation that resembles the kind of apartheid system we have seen before,' High Commissioner Volker Türk warned.
Israel dismissed the accusations as 'absurd and distorted'.
The Israeli mission in Geneva said the UN human rights office 'completely ignores fundamental facts that lie at the basis of the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict, and that inform the actions and policies of the State of Israel, mainly the grave security threats Israel faces, which were put on display on October 7, 2023'.
The report asserts that Palestinians experience significant restrictions in accessing resources, legal recourse, and fair trials, amidst policies that aim to keep Palestinians and Israeli settlers under separate systems of law.
Settlements in the West Bank, deemed illegal under international law, have increased over time, particularly after significant escalations in violence and conflict. The report suggests that ongoing practices of discrimination and control are intended to be permanent, symbolizing a racial hierarchy akin to apartheid.
Israeli laws, policies, and practices were having an 'asphyxiating impact' on every aspect of daily life for Palestinians and violated an international convention against racial discrimination, it said.
'This is a particularly severe form of racial discrimination and segregation that resembles the kind of apartheid system we have seen before,' High Commissioner Volker Türk warned.
Israel dismissed the accusations as 'absurd and distorted'.
The Israeli mission in Geneva said the UN human rights office 'completely ignores fundamental facts that lie at the basis of the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict, and that inform the actions and policies of the State of Israel, mainly the grave security threats Israel faces, which were put on display on October 7, 2023'.
The report asserts that Palestinians experience significant restrictions in accessing resources, legal recourse, and fair trials, amidst policies that aim to keep Palestinians and Israeli settlers under separate systems of law.
Settlements in the West Bank, deemed illegal under international law, have increased over time, particularly after significant escalations in violence and conflict. The report suggests that ongoing practices of discrimination and control are intended to be permanent, symbolizing a racial hierarchy akin to apartheid.
