UN ‘gravely concerned by rising violence’ in occupied West Bank
The UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, has been speaking at the UN human rights council in Geneva.
“I am gravely concerned by the rising violence in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers and other violations, as well as calls for annexation,” Guterres said, as he urged for the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel to remain intact.
He added that human rights around the world are being “suffocated” and referred to intolerable levels of death and destruction in Gaza. More than 48,000 Palestinian people have been killed by Israeli attacks since 7 October 2023, according to the local health ministry. Settler attacks and deadly raids by Israeli forces have both intensified in the occupied West Bank since the start of the war.
Key events
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said yesterday that Israel will not allow Syria’s new army or Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to “enter the area south of Damascus” as his government made clear Israeli forces would stay in parts of southern Syria for an indefinite period.
Speaking at a military graduation yesterday, he said:
Take note: We will not allow HTS forces or the new Syrian army to enter the area south of Damascus.
We demand the complete demilitarisation of southern Syria in the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda from the forces of the new regime. Likewise, we will not tolerate any threat to the Druze community in southern Syria.
Former Al Qaeda affiliate HTS took control of Damascus in early December in a rapid offensive that led to the ousting of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Shortly after the fall of the Assad regime, Israeli troops seized control of a demilitarised zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, despite widespread condemnation of the occupation as a violation of international law.
Syria has demanded Israel withdraw its forces from the country. The UN is among the bodies saying Israel’s move into Syrian territory is a violation of international agreements and has also called for the troops to be withdrawn.
UN ‘gravely concerned by rising violence’ in occupied West Bank
The UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, has been speaking at the UN human rights council in Geneva.
“I am gravely concerned by the rising violence in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers and other violations, as well as calls for annexation,” Guterres said, as he urged for the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel to remain intact.
He added that human rights around the world are being “suffocated” and referred to intolerable levels of death and destruction in Gaza. More than 48,000 Palestinian people have been killed by Israeli attacks since 7 October 2023, according to the local health ministry. Settler attacks and deadly raids by Israeli forces have both intensified in the occupied West Bank since the start of the war.
Deployment of tanks to West Bank and extended Israeli presence there is ‘flagrant attempt to entrench genocide’ – Palestinian foreign ministry
In a post on X, the Palestinian foreign ministry said deploying tanks around the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank is a “a prelude to expanding its crimes against the Palestinian people”.
It said:
The ministry of foreign affairs and expatriates warns of the Israeli occupation army’s deployment of heavy tanks around Jenin, viewing it as a prelude to expanding its crimes against the Palestinian people – particularly in the northern West Bank and its refugee camps.
This escalation comes as Israeli ‘defence’ minister Israel Katz boasts that the Israeli occupation army will prevent displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes and has ordered an extended military presence in the area. Israeli occupation forces have already forcibly displaced 40,000 Palestinians from refugee camps in the northern West Bank. The ministry views these developments – including Katz’s statements, the deployment of tanks, and the deliberate intimidation of defenceless civilians- as a grave escalation in the West Bank and a flagrant attempt to entrench genocide and forced displacement against our unarmed people.
The ministry renews its urgent calls on the international community to intervene immediately to curb Israel’s unchecked aggression, which continues in blatant violation of international law and signed agreements, and compel it to end its assault on the Palestinian people and their fundamental rights, foremost among them is their inalienable right to remain on their land.
My colleague Bethan McKernan has written about the expansion of Israel’s deadly military operation in the occupied West Bank. Here is an extract from her piece:
The Israel Defense Forces said they were sending tanks to the northern city of Jenin for the first time since the height of the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, in 2002.
Israel’s latest operation in the West Bank, launched two days after the ceasefire in Gaza came into effect on 19 January, has killed more than 50 people and ripped up roads and infrastructure in the territory’s refugee camps, set up to house Palestinians displaced after the creation of Israel in 1948.
Today the camps resemble urban slums, and have long functioned as bastions of armed resistance to the occupation.
The Israeli army began large-scale operations in the West Bank in the spring of 2022 after a spate of Palestinian attacks against Israelis, and violence there has soared since the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023 that ignited the latest war in Gaza.
Tensions in the West Bank have risen further since Thursday night after a series of bus explosions near Tel Aviv that appeared to detonate early, causing no casualties. In a Telegram post, a branch of Hamas’ military wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, from the West Bank city of Tulkarem, praised the attacks but stopped short of taking responsibility.
Israel sends tanks into West Bank as Gaza ceasefire in doubt with first phase nearing its end
Welcome to our continuing live coverage of developments in the Middle East.
Hamas released six Israeli hostages on Saturday, but Israel suspended the handover of more than 600 Palestinians it was due to free from its prisons in exchange, putting the fragile ceasefire agreement in jeopardy.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed the handover indefinitely as he is demanding Hamas stop what he called its “cynical use of hostages for propaganda”.
“It has been decided to delay the release of terrorists that was planned for Saturday until the release of the next hostages is ensured, without the humiliating ceremonies,” he said.
In response, Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters on Sunday that the Palestinian militant group will not hold talks with Israel through mediators on any further steps in the ceasefire agreement unless Palestinian prisoners are released as agreed.
As tensions over the ceasefire agreement rise, Netanyahu vowed yesterday to achieve the war’s stated objectives in negotiations “or by other means”.
“We are prepared to resume intense fighting at any moment,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military has sent tanks into the occupied West Bank for the first time in more than two decades, with raids reported in numerous locations such as Hebron and Qabatiya.
The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said the latest raid across the West Bank was expanding, and that troops would remain in the area’s urban hotspots “for the coming year”, meaning approximately 40,000 people displaced by the assault will not be able to return to their homes.
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Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar will meet senior European officials in Brussels later today. He will co-chair a meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in the first such session since 2022. The talks are set to focus on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza – caused by Israel’s assault on the territory – and changing regional dynamics.
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The White House said it supports Israel’s decision to delay releasing 600 Palestinian prisoners, citing the “barbaric treatment” of Israeli hostages by Hamas.
Delaying the prisoner release is an “appropriate response” to the militant group’s treatment of the hostages, national security council spokesperson Brian Hughes said. Donald Trump is prepared to support Israel in “whatever course of action it chooses regarding Hamas,” he added. -
US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said he was headed to the Middle East this week to “get an extension of phase one” of the truce. “We’re hopeful that we have the proper time… to begin phase two, and finish it off and get more hostages released,” Witkoff told CNN. The first phase of the three-stage ceasefire agreement is due to end in just under a week’s time. Delayed talks on the second stage of the deal, which is supposed to involve a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, are due to start this week, but there is uncertainty about whether they will happen and if they do what kind of lasting result can be secured.
