Two years after the International Court of Justice said Israel's occupation of the West Bank was unlawful, settler violence and territorial annexation is "only getting worse,” the UN said Wednesday. "With attacks by Israeli settlers, and the creation of settlements and outposts, hitting an all-time high, third states must act urgently and in unison to halt the continuing killing and dispossession of the Palestinian people, and to bring an end to the Israeli occupation," UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement. A senior UN official also expressed alarm Tuesday at the "rapidly deteriorating" situation in the West Bank, denouncing the escalation of violence, particularly by Israeli settlers against Palestinians. "In the past week, the escalating violence in the West Bank has resulted in civilian casualties, displacement, damage to property, and growing insecurity across affected communities," Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN's deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, told the Security Council. "Israeli settler attacks against Palestinian communities, homes, places of worship and civilian infrastructure have persisted at alarming levels," he said.
