EU commissioner says Israel must prevent, investigate violations under international law

Israel has a legal obligation under international humanitarian law to prevent and investigate alleged violations against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, said the European commissioner for equality and crisis management.

"In the West Bank, sexual violence by Israeli settlers is a key driver of displacement," Hadja Lahbib wrote on US social media platform X on Tuesday.

Citing available data, she said that more than 70% of displaced Palestinian households in the West Bank reported that threats to women and children were a decisive factor in their decision to leave.

"Israel has an obligation to prevent and investigate these violations under IHL," Lahbib stressed.

Across the West Bank, attacks by Israeli occupiers have been on the rise, including raids on villages and acts of vandalism, with Palestinians accusing the Israeli army of providing protection for such assaults.

The UN considers Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories illegal and has repeatedly called for a halt to settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.

About 750,000 Israeli occupiers live in 141 illegal settlements and 224 outposts in the West Bank, including around 250,000 in East Jerusalem, which the UN considers part of the occupied Palestinian territories.

Since October 2023, attacks by the Israeli army and occupiers in the West Bank have killed at least 1,154 Palestinians, injured about 11,750 others, and led to nearly 22,000 arrests, according to official Palestinian data.

These violations include property destruction, home burnings, forced displacement, and expansion of illegal settlement activity, with Palestinians warning that such policies pave the way for the annexation of parts of the West Bank by Israel.