Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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January 7, 2026 International law
A new report from the UN Human Rights Office documents a sharp escalation of long-standing systemic racial discrimination against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The report states that Israeli laws, policies, and practices violate international obligations to prohibit and eradicate racial segregation and apartheid.
The report notes that discrimination against Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is a long-standing problem, but the situation has "sharply worsened since at least December 2022." The document cites numerous examples of how Palestinians' lives are becoming increasingly restricted and unsafe.
Segregation and oppression
“The Israeli authorities apply two different legal regimes and policy systems to Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank, resulting in unequal treatment on a range of key issues, including freedom of movement and access to resources such as land and water,” the report said.
According to the document's authors, Palestinians continue to be subjected to large-scale land confiscation and deprivation of access to natural resources, leading to the loss of homes and livelihoods. The report also points to systematic violations of fair trial rights within the military justice system applied to Palestinians.
The authors conclude that the existing practices of separation, segregation and subordination are persistent and aimed at maintaining the oppression and domination of the Palestinian population. “Actions taken to maintain such policies constitute a violation of Article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which prohibits racial segregation and apartheid,” the report emphasizes.
Deadly violence
Since October 7, 2023, UN experts note, Israel has further escalated its use of unlawful force, arbitrary detentions, and torture, intensified repression of civil society, restricted media freedoms, and accelerated settlement expansion. This, according to the report, has led to an "unprecedented deterioration in the human rights situation" in the West Bank, exacerbated by ongoing settler violence—often with the connivance or complicity of security forces.
The document also contains data on unlawful killings and other forms of state and settlement violence. It cites examples of the use of lethal force "in a discriminatory and unnecessary manner, with the clear intent to take life."
These include the death of 10-year-old Saddam Hussein Rajab, shot dead by Israeli security forces in January 2025, and the murder of 23-year-old pregnant woman Sondos Shalabi in February of the same year. In both cases, according to official reports, the victims were unarmed.
Access to resources
According to the report, restrictions on movement seriously undermine the economic and social rights of Palestinians, hindering access to land and employment, while the construction of roads exclusively for Israeli settlers isolates Palestinian communities. Thousands of Palestinians have been evicted from their homes, which experts estimate may constitute illegal population transfer—a war crime.
Particular attention is paid to the deprivation of Palestinians' access to natural resources, particularly water. The report describes the practice of confiscating and demolishing Palestinian water infrastructure and diverting water resources to Israeli settlements, forcing the Palestinian Authority to purchase water extracted in the West Bank from an Israeli state-owned company.
"Infringement of Palestinian rights"
"Palestinians are systematically violated in the West Bank," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. "Whether it's access to water, schools, and hospitals, visiting relatives, or picking olives, every aspect of Palestinian life is controlled and restricted by discriminatory Israeli laws, policies, and practices."
He called what was happening "a particularly severe form of racial discrimination and segregation, reminiscent of the apartheid systems that the world has previously encountered."
The report also points to near-total impunity for human rights violations. Of the more than 1,500 Palestinian deaths between 2017 and September 2025, only 112 investigations were opened, resulting in one conviction.
The authors emphasize that the illegal expansion of settlements continues unabated and call on Israel to repeal all laws and practices that support systemic discrimination, end its illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and ensure the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.
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