{"id":7868,"date":"2026-01-07T23:16:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T23:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=7868"},"modified":"2026-01-07T23:16:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T23:16:47","slug":"israel-asphyxiating-palestinians-for-apartheid-system-in-west-bank-un-united-nations-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=7868","title":{"rendered":"Israel \u2018asphyxiating\u2019 Palestinians for \u2018apartheid system\u2019 in West Bank: UN | United Nations News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Volker Turk\u2019s description of the occupied West Bank\u2019s situation as \u2018apartheid\u2019 marks first time a United Nations human rights chief has used term.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"byline byline--single-avatar\">\n<div class=\"avatars-container\">\n<div class=\"responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2017-06-08T131939Z_1189275883_RC11B0FE7F20_RTRMADP_3_GULF-QATAR-JAZEERA-1714943623.jpg?resize=96%2C96&amp;quality=80 96w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 96px) 96px, 96px\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 7 Jan 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">7 Jan 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>The United Nations human rights office has called on Israel to \u201cdismantle all settlements\u201d in the occupied West Bank, saying its \u201coppression and domination\u201d of Palestinians resembles \u201capartheid\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In a new report on Wednesday, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights slammed Israel\u2019s \u201csystemic discrimination\u201d against Palestinians, citing restrictions on movement through checkpoints, and \u201climited access to roads, natural resources, land and basic social facilities\u201d.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cThere is a systematic asphyxiation of the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank,\u201d said UN rights chief Volker Turk in a statement. \u201cThis is a particularly severe form of racial discrimination and segregation that resembles the kind of apartheid system we have seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While UN-affiliated independent experts have described the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories as \u201capartheid\u201d, Turk\u2019s comments marked the first time a UN rights chief used the term, which was coined during South Africa\u2019s system of racial segregation that lasted from 1948 to 1994.<\/p>\n<p>Turk said every aspect of life in the occupied West Bank is \u201ccontrolled and curtailed by Israel\u2019s discriminatory laws, policies and practices\u201d, from accessing water to harvesting olives.<\/p>\n<p>Wednesday\u2019s report called out the Israeli authorities for treating Israeli settlers and Palestinians \u201cunder two distinct bodies of law and policies, resulting in unequal treatment on a range of critical issues\u201d, with \u201clarge-scale confiscation of land and deprivation of access to resources\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The laws had led to Palestinians being dispossessed of their lands and homes \u201calongside other forms of systemic discrimination including criminal prosecution in military courts during which their due process and fair trial rights are systematically violated\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"two-bodies-of-law\">Two bodies of law<\/h2>\n<p data-is=\"component-paragraph\">Israel has previously rejected the apartheid accusations, saying its policies are driven by \u201csecurity concerns\u201d rather than racial or ethnic discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>The UN rights office said the discrimination in the Palestinian territories is compounded by continuing and escalating settler violence in many cases \u201cwith the acquiescence, support and participation of Israel\u2019s security forces\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>More than 500,000 Israelis currently live in settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967 and home to about three million Palestinians.<\/p>\n<p>Violence has surged in the shadow of the genocidal war on Gaza, with Israeli attacks killing more than 1,100 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7, 2023. Israeli authorities have arrested nearly 21,000 Palestinians during that period.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Israel\u2019s settlement expansion continues, with Israel recently approving 19 new settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, as the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moves to prevent the formation of a contiguous Palestinian state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Volker Turk\u2019s description of the occupied West Bank\u2019s situation as \u2018apartheid\u2019 marks first time a United Nations human rights chief has used term. Published On 7 Jan 20267 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share The United Nations human rights office has called on Israel to \u201cdismantle all settlements\u201d in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}