Geneva, Switzerland — The United Nations on Friday said a deadly Israeli settler attack on a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank was “horrific” and that Israel had to end impunity.
The UN human rights office said deadly violence in the Palestinian territory, that has increased since the start of the Gaza war, “needs to stop”.
The Israeli military said “dozens of Israeli civilians, some of them masked”, entered Jit, west of Nablus, on Thursday night, and “set fire to vehicles and structures in the area, hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails”. A Palestinian man was shot dead.
“It was horrific,” said UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani.
“What is striking and important to remember is that yesterday’s killing in Jit is not an isolated attack, and it is the direct consequence of Israel’s policy of settlement in the West Bank,” she added.
Speaking of attacks across the West Bank since the Gaza war erupted on October 7, she said: “There are reports of Israeli security forces standing by as attacks take place.
“There are even reports of weapons being distributed to the settlers. So there is clearly a state responsibility in this regard.”
Shamdasani said the UN rights office had reported in recent years about settlers attacking Palestinian communities in the West Bank “with impunity”.
“This really is the crux of the matter: the impunity that the perpetrators of such grave violations have been enjoying,” she said.
Violence in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, has surged since the Hamas October 7 attacks on Israel set off the Gaza war.
More than 630 Palestinians have been killed by settlers or Israeli troops, according to the Palestinian authorities.
At least 18 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in attacks involving Palestinians, according to official Israeli figures.
“We have verified that since October 7 and until yesterday, 609 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and including 146 children, eight women and at least four people with a disability,” said Shamdasani.
“Clearly this needs to stop — and key to this will be accountability for the perpetrators.”
She said there had been attacks by settlers and by Israeli security forces.
“By and large, we are seeing impunity. There have been some, very few, investigations — but even in those cases, most of the times, these do not conclude with justice for the victims and for the perpetrators.”
Israel’s president and prime minister have condemned the attack on Jit.
Daniel Meron, Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said on X: “There is no place for any form of violence, and Israel’s law enforcement authorities will act to bring the perpetrators to account.”
He added: “Violent, radical riots are the opposite of every code and value upheld by the state of Israel and the Jewish faith.”