The UN Human Rights Office Friday said that it was appalled by the killing of Hanan Abu Salameh as she was harvesting olives with her family in the village of Faqqu’a, east of the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
Abu Salameh, 60, was shot in the back on Thursday and attempts to resuscitate her failed, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
The Office said in a press statement that according to the information it gathered, ‘the harvesters were not posing any threat whatsoever when Israeli security forces fired multiple shots at them without prior warning.’
‘Across the West Bank, picking olives for the annual harvest is becoming an increasingly risky activity,’ it added.
‘This arbitrary killing comes in the context of intensified, organized attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian harvesting teams to sabotage the olive harvest, along with use of force by Israeli security forces to block Palestinians’ access to their lands in an apparently arbitrary manner. During the first week of the off
icial Palestinian olive harvest season, the UN Human Rights Office recorded dozens of incidents of violence against Palestinian harvesters and disruption of access to olive groves,’ it elaborated.
Commenting of Israeli occupation tightened restrictions and colonists’ violence in the occupied West Bank, the Office said: ‘The combination of restricted access to land and unchecked violence are key features of a coercive environment that is increasingly forcing Palestinians to leave their land.’
‘As the harvest season progresses, areas of the West Bank not historically targeted are this year being subjected to access restrictions, with settler presence increasingly encroaching onto lands close to Palestinian villages, including in areas designated as ‘Area B’ under the Oslo Accords,’ it added.
It expressed its high concern ‘that settlers, backed by Israeli authorities, are taking advantage of the olive harvest to further advance the settlement enterprise in an environment of enduring impunity.’
It said that i
n the past days, Israeli colonist groups, as well as key figures in the Israeli occupation government, have incited against and requested to stop all Palestinian harvesting activities, particularly near Israeli colonies, the apartheid Wall, and settler-only bypass roads, to ensure the security of colonists.
The UN Human Rights Office stressed that ‘Israel has fundamental obligations under international law to protect Palestinians and their property against violence and to ensure the upholding of their dignity and access to livelihoods.’
It recalled that ‘the International Court of Justice recently concluded that settler violence, Israel’s systematic failure to effectively punish this violence and Israeli forces’ excessive use of force against Palestinians are contributing to the maintenance of a coercive environment that is inconsistent with Israel’s international legal obligations.’
It further recalled that ‘the Court further stated that Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is
unlawful. The Court found that the presence of settlers and settlements is unlawful and that the protection of settlers and settlements, therefore, cannot be invoked to justify discriminatory measures, such as movement and access restrictions, against Palestinians.’
The UN Human Rights Office reiterated its call to Israeli occupation authorities to ‘ensure, in the weeks ahead, Palestinians’ full access to their land and protection from settler attacks to complete the olive harvest fully and safely.’
It reminded the occupation authorities of their ‘obligation to ensure prompt, effective, thorough, and transparent investigation into this latest killing and all previous incidents of violence by settlers and Israeli security forces against Palestinians for perpetrators to be prosecuted and, if convicted, punished with appropriate sanctions.’
‘Victims must be provided with effective remedies, including adequate compensation, in accordance with international standards,’ it concluded.
Source : Palestine news & I
nformation Agency – WAFA