Geneva, Switzerland– The UN human rights chief denounced on Tuesday the latest cycle of violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank, saying the killings and woundings must cease.
“The recent operation in the occupied West Bank and car ramming attack in Tel Aviv worryingly underscore an all too familiar pattern of events: that violence only begets more violence,” Volker Turk said in a statement.
“The killing, maiming and the destruction of property must stop.”
A car ramming and stabbing attack in Tel Aviv wounded seven people on Tuesday before the suspected assailant was shot dead.
The attack came on the second day of the biggest military operation in years in the occupied West Bank, with Israeli forces killing 10 people in a “counter-terrorism” operation in the Jenin refugee camp on Monday.
Turk said some of the methods and weapons used in the Jenin raid “are more generally associated with the conduct of hostilities in armed conflict, rather than law enforcement”.
“The use of airstrikes is inconsistent with rules applicable to the conduct of law enforcement operations. In a context of occupation, the deaths resulting from such airstrikes may also amount to wilful killings,” he said.
Turk said Israeli forces in the West Bank needed to abide by international human rights standards on the use of force.
“These standards do not change simply because the goal of the operation is stated as ‘counter-terrorism’,” he said.
As the occupying power, “Israel must also ensure timely access to medical care to all those injured,” he added.
Limited medical access
Christian Lindmeier, spokesman for the UN’s World Health Organization, said that the destruction of infrastructure, including roads in Jenin, was restricting access for medical teams.
“Ambulances with medical teams have been prevented from entering parts of the refugee camp, including to reach persons who have been critically injured,” he said.
“At least two hospitals have been affected with attacks involving the use of ammunition and gas canisters,” he added.
The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) medical charity condemned a “denial of medical access” in Jenin.
“Ambulances have been rammed by armoured cars and patients and health care staff have routinely been denied entry and egress to the camp,” said Jovana Arsenijevic, MSF operations coordinator in Jenin.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said Israeli security forces must ensure Jenin had unimpeded access to health services, shelter, food and water.
“Ambulances and first responders must have unhindered access to wounded people and be able to provide emergency care without putting their own lives at risk,” the ICRC said.