A UN rights expert has accused Israel of enforcing apartheid in a landmark report that has prompted fresh calls for the British government to cease trade with illegal settlements. 

The damning report by the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Michael Lynk, was submitted to the Human Rights Council earlier this week. 

“With the eyes of the international community wide open, Israel has imposed upon Palestine an apartheid reality in a post-apartheid world,” he declares. 

The Canadian academic notes that Israeli rule over the occupied territories endows one racial-national-ethnic group with substantial rights, benefits and privileges, while intentionally subjecting another group to live behind walls, checkpoints and military rule. 

This, he states, “satisfies the prevailing evidentiary standard for the existence of apartheid.”

The report, which was due to be released today ahead of a UNHCR debate on Israeli human rights abuses against Palestinians, is the latest to use the term apartheid to describe Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. 

It follows on from similar findings by Amnesty International in a groundbreaking report released last month, as well as Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem.

Earlier this week the prestigious Harvard Law School in the US also recognised Israel as committing the crime of apartheid.  

Mr Lynk’s report has prompted renewed calls for Britain to hold Israel to account by ceasing trade with the state’s illegal settlements and imposing a two-way arms embargo. 

Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal said: “The government must act now to end its complicit support for this crime against humanity. 

“In its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine it has made clear its view that serious breaches of international law require a sanctions-led response and that all public bodies have a duty to ensure they do not invest money in ways that support violations of international law. 

“The same standards of accountability must be applied to Israel to bring its system of apartheid to an end.”

Amnesty International’s Saleh Higazi urged the international community to stop making excuses for “Israel’s cruel system of racial domination and oppression and take immediate action to help end apartheid and protect Palestinian rights.

“The report emphasises the need for the international community to accept the findings of human rights organisations, including Amnesty, and start calling Israel’s apartheid what it is,” he stressed.