“EThese dangerous developments are fueling an already explosive situation in the occupied West Bank and further undermining the Palestinian Authority,” António Guterres said in a statement released on Wednesday.
According to Palestinian sources, the Israeli army on Wednesday killed at least 11 Palestinians and wounded more than 20 in ground and air military strikes on three points in the northern West Bank.
The Portuguese called for an immediate cessation of military operations and demanded that Israel comply with its relevant obligations under international humanitarian law and take measures to protect civilians.
Security forces, Guterres added, must exercise “maximum restraint” and use lethal force “only when it is strictly unavoidable to protect life.”
“All injured people must have access to medical care and humanitarian workers must be able to reach all those who need it,” the UN Secretary-General stressed.
Israeli army operations and settler attacks in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have already resulted in the deaths of around 660 Palestinians, including at least 147 minors, according to Palestinian sources.
On the Israeli side, 22 people have died so far this year (11 uniformed soldiers and 11 civilians, at least six of them settlers), most of them in attacks carried out by Palestinians, such as shootings or stabbings.
Also on Wednesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz proposed temporarily evacuating people from the West Bank to “destroy terrorist infrastructure.”
“We must address the threat in the same way we address the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary withdrawal of Palestinian residents and any other necessary measures. This is a war for everyone and we must win it,” the Israeli minister said on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Israel launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip after the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7, which is believed to have killed more than 1,140 people, most of them civilians.
“Iran is working to establish an eastern terrorist front against Israel in the West Bank, along the lines already established in Gaza and Lebanon, by financing and arming terrorists and smuggling advanced weapons from Jordan,” Katz said.
Read Also: Guterres condemns “almost total impunity” that prevents resolving wars
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2622955/guterres-acusa-israel-de-criar-situacao-explosiva-na-cisjordania
