'Settler terror' in West Bank criticized

JERUSALEM — Diplomats from 13 European countries and Canada on Saturday slammed the growing "terror" by settlers against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, after a surge in deadly attacks.

Since the start of March, six Palestinians have been shot dead in settler attacks in the West Bank, according to a tally of data from the Ramallah-based health ministry.

"We strongly condemn increasing settler terror and violence by the Israeli security forces inflicted upon Palestinian communities," said a joint statement from the diplomatic missions of countries, including France, Spain and the United Kingdom.

"We are especially appalled by the killings of Palestinians over these past weeks. This violence by settler militias, aimed at taking over land and creating a coercive environment, forcing Palestinians to leave their homes, must end," the statement said.

It called on the Israeli authorities to "prevent and prosecute the lethal violence, raids and attacks".

Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir on Wednesday criticized the increase in settler attacks in the West Bank, calling it "morally and ethically unacceptable".

Alongside roughly 3 million Palestinians, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements and outposts in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law.

While most Israeli settlers do not engage in violence, a small but militant fringe has been linked to attacks on Palestinians.

Official Israeli figures say 45 Israelis, including soldiers and civilians, have also been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations.

'Systematic' torture

Meanwhile, Francesca Albanese, the United Nations' special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, claimed Israel was systematically torturing Palestinians on a scale "that suggests collective vengeance and destructive intent", in a report released on Friday.

Albanese said that since the start of the Palestine-Israel conflict in 2023, Palestinians in custody "have been subjected to exceptionally ruthless physical and psychological abuse".

Entitled "Torture and genocide", the report "examines Israel's systematic use of torture against Palestinians from the occupied Palestinian territory since Oct 7,2023".

It claimed that "torture in detention has been used on an unprecedented scale as punitive collective vengeance".

"Torture has become integral to the domination of and punishment inflicted on men, women and children, both through custodial abuse and through a relentless campaign of forced displacement, mass killings, deprivation and destruction of all means of life to inflict long-term collective pain and suffering," it said.

Although appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, special rapporteurs are independent experts and do not speak on behalf of the United Nations itself.

Agencies via Xinhua