UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday condemned the recent killing of a Palestinian family in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces.
"I can tell you that the Secretary General condemns the recent killings of members of a Palestinian family by Israeli security forces, including children in the occupied West Bank," Guterres' spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said in a news conference.
Calling on Israel to comply with its obligations under international law, his spokesperson said Guterres also called on Israeli forces to "exercise maximum restraint and use intentional lethal force only when strictly unavoidable to protect life."
"These killings occur amid a deeply troubling deterioration of the security situation across the occupied West Bank that is devastating the Palestinian population," Dujarric said.
Emphasizing that illegal Israeli settler attacks have "become more severe and they've become more cruel," he stressed that "this violence is unacceptable and must stop."
"The Secretary General urges, once again, the Israeli government to implement concrete measures to reverse this current trajectory," Dujarric said, adding that "Israeli authorities must bear the responsibility to protect the Palestinian population, ensure that credible investigations are carried out and those responsible held to account."
The statement came after Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian family traveling in a car, including a husband, wife, and two children aged five and seven. Two other children were injured in the incident but survived.
Attacks by illegal Israeli settlers on Palestinian towns, villages and communities in the West Bank have increased since the war in the Gaza Strip began Oct. 8, 2023, leaving 42 Palestinians dead, according to data from the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission.
Overall violence by Israeli forces and illegal settlers in the West Bank has killed 1,127 Palestinians, injured 11,700 and led to 22,000 arrests, according to official Palestinian figures.
