NEW YORK (Dispatches) – The human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories is “disastrous” due to the Zionist regime’s occupation and atrocities, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, says.
Speaking during a meeting organized by the United Nations Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, Bachelet said, “Overall, the present human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory can fairly be characterized as disastrous, with severe infringements on the rights of over 4 million people.”
“Only an end to the (Zionist) occupation can bring about lasting peace and establish the conditions in which the human rights of all can be fully respected.”
Palestinians now face increased settler violence, she said and explained, on average, there is almost one incident of settler violence each day. She said the justice system continues to fail to hold settlers accountable for violence against Palestinians, adding that “this lack of accountability for settler violence contributes to the increased number and severity of attacks.”
Expressing particular alarm at the recurring incidents of excessive use of force leading to the death and injury of Palestinian children, she said that in 2021 Zionist troops killed 16 children in the West Bank, including East Al-Quds.
Bachelet said her office continues to receive reports of ill-treatment of children during their arrest, transfer, interrogation and detention by regime authorities.
In a latest incident, a group of Zionists sprayed racist slogans on the walls of a mosque in Umm Al-Fahm city on Wednesday morning.
Local sources confirmed that the saboteurs had entered the Arab city of Umm al-Fahm and sprayed anti-Arab slogans on the Qatayeen al-Shomar Mosque’s walls. Videos on social media show the Star of David and the occupying regime’s flag spray-painted on the mosque walls. Local volunteers have since repainted the area to erase signs of aggression.
Zionist settlers have, in recent years, carried out similar attacks in the occupied West Bank in what has become known as “price tag” attacks.
Meanwhile, international rights groups have censured the Zionist regime’s travel bans on Palestinian journalists, saying the restrictive measures prevent members of the press from leaving the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med Monitor) pointed to the travel ban placed on Palestinian journalist Majdoleen Hassona, saying that she has been unable to depart the West Bank for her base in Istanbul, where she works for the Turkish public broadcaster TRT.
According to a report published by Euro-Med Monitor on November 29, “several” Palestinian journalists are subjected to similar bans that prevent them from traveling abroad and working freely.