“I call on any person involved to come out of the absurdity of the escalation, which only counts dead bodies, destroyed lives and utter hopelessness,” said the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk today called for a de-escalation of tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, decrying recent Israeli measures, notably on weapons, that could lead to “more violence and bloodshed.”
In a strongly worded statement, Israel’s UN embassy in Geneva criticized Turk and accused him of bias and of “only condemning the state of Israel”.
The rise in bloody violence seen since the start of the year until it escalated in late January has raised fears of renewed tension between Israelis and Palestinians and prompted several international calls for calm, notably from US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who visited in Jerusalem and Ramallah on Monday and Tuesday.
“I call on anyone involved (in the conflict) to come out of the absurdity of escalation, which only counts dead bodies, destroyed lives and utter hopelessness,” Turk said.
The UN official also expressed concern over steps taken by the Israeli government on Saturday, including making it easier to obtain a permit to carry weapons, after six Israelis and a Ukrainian woman were killed on January 27 in a Palestinian attack in occupied and annexed East Jerusalem. in Israel Palestinian sector of the Holy City.
This, “combined with a rhetoric of hate can only lead to more violence and bloodshed,” he warned. “We know from experience that the proliferation of firearms will lead to an increased risk of killing and injury, on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides.”
The Israeli government also adopted punitive measures on Saturday targeting relatives of the attackers. For Turk, these provisions amount to “collective punishment”.
The day after the January 27 attack near a synagogue, a 13-year-old Palestinian shot and wounded two Israelis, also in East Jerusalem.
The attacks followed the deadliest Israeli military raid in years in the West Bank, in which ten Palestinians, including fighters and a 60-year-old civilian, were killed on January 26 in Jenin, in the northern part of the 1967 of Palestinian territory.
The OHCHR press release “does not even have the decency to describe last week’s attacks for what they were, acts of Palestinian terrorism aimed at the Jewish people. It does not even have the courage to condemn the deaths of innocent believers.” , complained Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva Meirav Eilon Sahar.
“His prejudice against Israel causes him to turn a blind eye to the Palestinian Authority’s daily incitement of children and its support for terrorism. This must stop now,” he wrote.
Since the beginning of the year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of 35 Palestinians (among them fighters and civilians, including minors), six Israeli citizens (including one minor) and one Ukrainian woman, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli and Palestinian sources.
The conflict claimed the lives of 235 people in 2022, nearly 90% of them Palestinians.
RES-EMP
Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
