UN Report: Israel Practicing Apartheid Against Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank
Al-Gisr – Exclusive
A new UN report has documented the “suffocating impact” of Israeli laws, policies, and practices against Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, highlighting clear violations of international law that obligate states to “prohibit and eliminate apartheid systems.”
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) stated in its report released today that Israeli authorities treat Israeli settlers and Palestinians living in the West Bank under separate legal systems and policies. This results in unequal treatment in many critical areas, including freedom of movement and access to natural resources such as land and water.
The report concludes that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that these separation, subjugation, and control measures are intended to be permanent, maintaining systematic oppression over Palestinians.
It further notes that the situation has deteriorated sharply since October 7, 2023, with the Israeli government reportedly expanding violations, including unlawful use of force, arbitrary detention, torture, suppression of civil society, and unjustified restrictions on media freedoms, causing an unprecedented decline in human rights conditions.
The report highlights that the military judicial system serves as a key tool for controlling Palestinians, offering far less protection than civil law provides to Israeli settlers. It also documents extrajudicial killings, other forms of state and settler violence, and numerous instances of intentional lethal force without justification.
Additionally, the construction of new roads exclusively for Israeli settlers has isolated Palestinian communities from one another, alongside the forcible displacement of thousands of Palestinians, which may constitute illegal population transfer—a war crime.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stated that Palestinians in the West Bank face systematic strangulation of their rights, with all aspects of their lives subject to Israeli control and restrictions. He described this as a form of apartheid comparable to historical systems of racial segregation.
Türk also stressed the rampant impunity for human rights violations: of more than 1,500 Palestinian killings between January 1, 2017, and September 30, 2025, Israeli authorities opened only 112 investigations, resulting in a single conviction.
The report notes the continued use of administrative detention, with thousands of Palestinians held without charge or fair trial. It also highlights the relentless expansion of illegal settlements, including approval for 19 new settlements by the Israeli Security Cabinet, obstructing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Türk called on Israeli authorities to repeal all laws, policies, and practices that institutionalize systematic discrimination against Palestinians based on race, religion, or ethnicity, to end their unlawful presence in occupied Palestinian territory, including dismantling settlements, evacuating settlers, and respecting the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.
