The recent days’ violence in the West Bank risks escalating beyond control, warns UN human rights chief Volker Türk.
“The recent killings and violence, as well as the vicious rhetoric, only serve to drive Israelis and Palestinians deeper into the abyss,” Türk said in a statement.
So far this year, over 200 people have fallen victim to deadly violence linked to the Israel-Palestine conflict. The vast majority of those killed have been Palestinians.
In recent days, violence has escalated in the occupied West Bank. On Wednesday, Israeli settlers went on a revenge attack in several locations after a crime in which four Israelis were shot dead at a gas station. The petrol pump act appears to have been a revenge for an Israeli military operation in the city of Jenin on Monday, which turned very bloody when Palestinian militia tried to stop the soldiers.
The contradictions have intensified since the extreme settler right won seats in Israel’s new government last winter. Several ministers speak openly about chasing the Palestinians from the West Bank and expanding the illegal settlements.