UNITED NATIONS, Dec 13 (APP): The UN human rights office, OHCHR, has expressed alarm at reports of a so-called “settler road” being built by Israel in the occupied West Bank.
Around 100 hectares of Palestinian land have been reportedly confiscated to make way for the new route.
The road will separate Palestinian farming villages and shepherding communities from their lands, and sever these Palestinian communities from one another, following the Israeli model of the separation road in the western West Bank. Tel Aviv’s move is aimed at benefiting Israeli settlers.
This would mark another step towards the progressive fragmentation of the West Bank, warned the head of the OHCHR’s Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ajith Sunghay.
“We are alarmed to hear that Israel has actually started building a new barrier and a road in the heart of the Jordan Valley,” he said on Friday.
“This is the most fertile land in the West Bank and the road is likely going to separate Palestinian communities from each other and the Palestinian farmers in Tubas from…land they own on the other side of the planned barrier.”
Sunghay maintained that the move would consolidate Israel’s annexation of the West Bank and remove all sources of livelihood for Palestinians.
He also noted that Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur shams camps have been emptied and that after almost one year, residents have not been allowed to return.
This raises concerns about forcible transfer, which is prohibited under international law, the UN rights official said, before expressing concern about warnings issued to continue bulldozing Palestinian camps.
Meanwhile, the General Assembly on Friday gave “a strong endorsement” to a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that claims about the UN agency serving Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) being infiltrated by Hamas militants in Gaza lack substance.
That’s according to UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, who tweeted that the resolution backed by 139 States also pushed back on allegations that the main aid provider in the Gaza Strip was not a neutral organization.
“This vote is an important sign of support for UNRWA from the overwhelming majority of the international community. As the ICJ has stressed, UNRWA is the key humanitarian actor in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and everything must be done to facilitate our work, not hinder or prevent it.”
Nineteen nations abstained, with 12 voting against. The United States, Argentina, Bolivia and Hungary were among those joining Israel in opposition.
Deputy UN Spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters at the daily briefing that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “heartened by the tremendous amount of support” for UNRWA from Member States.
Heavy rains across the Gaza Strip have flooded more displacement sites, damaged buildings in Jabalya and Gaza City, and caused further casualties, including children.
Humanitarian agencies warn that overflowing drainage systems and contaminated water sources are heightening the risk of outbreaks of waterborne disease.
“The immediate and sustained entry of spare parts and essential machinery must be facilitated,” aid coordination office, OCHA, stressed, noting that waste collection and safe disposal are now severely constrained.
As temperatures fall, families without access to gas or electricity are struggling to keep warm and are repeatedly moving in search of higher, safer ground.
Aid partners are distributing winter clothing, tarpaulins and tents, but an estimated 1.3 million people still require urgent shelter support.
Since the ceasefire two months ago, fewer than 50,000 tents have entered Gaza for around 270,000 people. Thousands of pallets of shelter materials have been rejected and many NGOs have been blocked from operating.
Restrictions on the entry of aid must be lifted, OCHA said, including the ban on UNRWA, which has supplies for more than a million people stockpiled outside Gaza.
In the West Bank, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been displaced this year in Area C and East Jerusalem, largely due to demolitions for lacking Israeli permits that are nearly impossible to obtain.
OCHA continues to record an average of five Israeli settler attacks per day, with severe humanitarian impacts. The UN is calling for strengthened protection for Palestinians and an end to unlawful demolitions and settler violence.
