West Bank: UN report warns of ‘systematic asphyxiation’ of Palestinian rights

A sweeping UN human rights report released concludes that in the occupied West Bank, Israel is violating international law prohibiting racial segregation and apartheid, warning that the discriminatory practices have accelerated dramatically since late 2022 amid growing violence, repression and impunity.

The report by the UN human rights office, OHCHR, documents what it describes as a decades-long system of discrimination that has sharply intensified since at least December 2022.

‘Systematic asphyxiation’ of rights

Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the findings reveal “a systematic asphyxiation of the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank.”

“Whether accessing water, school, rushing to hospital, visiting family or friends, or harvesting olives – every aspect of life for Palestinians in the West Bank is controlled and curtailed by Israel’s discriminatory laws, policies and practices,” he said.

“This is a particularly severe form of racial discrimination and segregation, that resembles the kind of apartheid system we have seen before.”

Widespread oppression

According to the report Israeli authorities treat Israeli settlers and Palestinians residing in the West Bank under two distinct bodies of law and policies, resulting in unequal treatment on a range of critical issues, including movement and access to resources such as land and water.

It concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe the separation, segregation and subordination are intended to be permanent, to maintain oppression.

“Acts committed with the intention to maintain such a policy amount to a violation of Article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which prohibits racial segregation and apartheid,” it says.

Further deterioration since 7 October

Since 7 October 2023 – when Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups from Gaza attacked communities in southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 and taking over 250 people hostage – the situation has deteriorated further, the report adds.

It cites expanded use of unlawful force, arbitrary detention, torture, severe movement restrictions, repression of civil society and media, and settlement expansion. It says that this is compounded by the continuation and escalation of settler violence, in many cases with the acquiescence, support and participation of Israeli security forces.

The report also documents trends of unlawful killings and other forms of State and setter violence and it contains numerous examples of lethal force that has been deliberately used when unwarranted, in a discriminatory manner against Palestinians, and with the apparent intention to kill.

It highlights, among others, the killing of 10-year-old Saddam Hussein Rajab in January 2025 and the shooting of eight-month pregnant Sondos Shalabi in February 2025, noting that both victims were unarmed.

Widespread impunity

Impunity remains widespread, the report notes. Of more than 1,500 killings of Palestinians recorded between January 2017 and last September, Israeli authorities opened 112 investigations, resulting in just one conviction.

Mr. Türk called on Israel to repeal laws and policies that “perpetuate systemic discrimination”, adding that illegal settlements must be dismantled, the occupation ended and Palestinians’ right to self-determination respected.