UN Rights Chief: Israeli Settlements Expand by Record Amount

FILE PHOTO: A general view picture shows the Israeli settlement of Efrat in the Gush Etzion settlement block as Bethlehem is seen in the background, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo

Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories have expanded by a record amount and risk eliminating any practical possibility of a Palestinian state, the UN human rights chief said on Friday.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said that the growth of Israeli settlements amounted to the transfer by Israel of its own population, which he reiterated was a war crime. The Biden administration said last month the settlements were "inconsistent" with international law after Israel announced new housing plans in the occupied West Bank.
"Settler violence and settlement-related violations have reached shocking new levels, and risk eliminating any practical possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian State," Turk said in a statement accompanying the report which will be presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva in late March, Reuters reported.
The 16-page report, based on the UN's own monitoring as well as other sources, documented 24,300 new Israeli housing units in the occupied West Bank during a one-year period through to end-October 2023, which it said was the highest on record since monitoring began in 2017.
It also said there had been a dramatic increase in the intensity, severity and regularity of both Israeli settler and state violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, particularly since the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.
Since then, more than 400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces or by settlers, it said.