GENEVA, Switzerland: UN rights chief Volker Turk said Thursday he was ringing the loudest possible alarm bell over the “potentially explosive” situation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
“I am deeply concerned about the intensification of violence and severe discrimination against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” Turk told a briefing of UN member states.
“In my view, this creates a potentially explosive situation, and I want to be clear: we are well beyond the level of early warning. I am ringing the loudest possible alarm bell about the occupied West Bank,” he said.
Meanwhile, the UN human rights chief decried Thursday serious allegations of violations of international law in the Israel-Hamas war, suggesting an international investigation was needed.
“Extremely serious allegations of multiple and profound breaches of international humanitarian law, whoever commits them, demand rigorous investigation and full accountability,” Volker Turk said in a briefing on the situation to UN member states, adding “international investigation is called for”. —AFP
