UN SECRETARY-GENERAL Antonio Guterres called on Israel to immediately end operations in the occupied West Bank today, after the Israeli military killed at least 16 people there this week.
Israel began a series of raids across the occupied Palestinian territory on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, claiming to have killed five Islamic Jihad militants including a commander, Mohammed Jaber.
Islamic Jihad has confirmed that Mr Jaber, also known as Abu Shujaa, was killed during a raid in the city of Tulkarem.
Citing the ongoing deaths of civilians in raids by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), Mr Guterres called for an immediate halt to the deadly assaults, demanding that Israel’s government comply with its obligations under international law.
“These dangerous developments are fuelling an already explosive situation in the occupied West Bank and further undermining the Palestinian Authority,” he said in a statement.
“I strongly condemn the loss of lives, including of children, and I call for an immediate cessation of these operations,” Mr Guterres added on social media today.
“Only an end to the occupation and a return to a meaningful political process that will establish a two-state solution will bring an end to the violence.”
The declared toll of 16 deaths in less than two days would make the operation Israel’s deadliest in the West Bank since Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says more than 650 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the start of the war.
Some have been militants killed in battles with the Israeli military, but many civilian bystanders and rock-throwing protesters have also been killed – and the territory has seen a surge of Israeli settler violence.
Israel claims the raids are required to prevent attacks on its citizens, which have also risen since the start of the war.
Meanwhile, Ireland’s foreign minister said today that the EU must rethink its relations with Israel and impose sanctions on Knesset ministers accused of fomenting racial hatred.
“This is a war against Palestinians, not just against Hamas,” Mr Martin told reporters.
“The level of civilian casualties and dead is unconscionable. It’s a war on the population. No point in trying to fudge this.”
Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which has displaced 90 per cent of the population and destroyed its main cities, has killed more than 40,000 people, according to local health officials.
Mr Martin said a legal opinion issued by the International Court of Justice that Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank is unlawful obliges the EU to take action.
The Palestinians have hailed it as “a watershed moment for Palestine, for justice and for international law.”
“It cannot be business as usual,” Mr Martin said. “It is very clear to us that international humanitarian law has been broken.”
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged EU-member-state foreign ministers to consider imposing sanctions on certain members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right cabinet over their remarks about the war in Gaza.
“Some Israeli ministers have been launching hateful messages, unacceptable hateful messages, against the Palestinians and proposing things that go clearly against international law and [are] an [incitement] to commit more crimes,” Mr Borrell said.
He did not name the ministers, but earlier this month he criticised Israel Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for suggesting that the starvation of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million people “might be just and moral” until hostages captured in the October 7 attack are returned home.
Mr Borrell said there should be “no taboos” to prevent the EU from ensuring that international humanitarian law is respected.
