Israel is violating the human rights of Palestinians with “discriminatory” policies which “clearly” amount to racially segregated East Jerusalem housing, UN experts declared Wednesday.
The Five UN Special Rapporteurs determined Israel is restricting Palestinian access to not only housing, but sanitation, safe water, healthcare, and education, as well, and determined that “racially segregated settlements have had significant and lasting consequences on the standards of living of the Palestinian people.”
The group of experts reaffirmed the finding by the Human Rights Council in March that ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory constitutes apartheid and called on the Israeli regime to abide by international human rights standards and humanitarian law.
“Israel, as the internationally-recognised occupying power of the Palestinian territory, has significant obligations under international human rights law, which it has repeatedly violated.”
The experts condemned recent deadly aggression by Israeli occupation forces towards Palestinians protesting the establishment of the illegal “Evyatar” settler outpost.
“We have received reports that protesters have been subjected to indiscriminate and excessive use of force, arbitrary detention, torture, and collective punishment.”
This resulted in at least six Palestinians having “been shot dead by Israeli security forces or Israel settlers while protesting the establishment of the settlement,” they said, warning the Israelis that “peaceful assemblies should only be dispersed in exceptional cases, and subject to strict requirements of legality, necessity and proportionality.”