France condemned Israeli settlers’ violence in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, calling it a “terror policy” aimed at displacing Palestinians and demanding Israeli authorities protect Palestinians from the violence.
According to UN estimates, daily settler attacks on Israel have more than doubled since the Hamas attacks on Jews on Oct. 7 and the subsequent assault on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
“Concerning the West Bank, I’d like to express the strongest condemnation by France of the violence carried out by the settlers against the Palestinians,” foreign ministry spokesperson Anne-Claire Legendre told a press conference.
“Violence, which has the clear objective of forced displacement of the Palestinians and a policy of terror,”
She urged Israeli authorities to take the necessary precautions to protect the Palestinian people and cautioned that the settlement strategy jeopardized the two-state solution.
Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, reiterated her sentiments. Turk, speaking in Geneva on Thursday, expressed grave worry about the escalation of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
He stated unequivocally that the Jews occupation must stop.
According to United Nations data, this year has already been the worst in at least 15 years for West Bank residents, with 200 Palestinians and 26 Israelis killed.
However, more than 120 West Bank Palestinians have been slain in the three weeks since the October 7 massacre. The majority of deaths have been caused by clashes with the military.
The West Bank was taken by Israel during the 1967 Middle East War and has been under military occupation ever since, with Jews settlements steadily expanding.
Palestinians envision the West Bank as a component of a future independent state that would also include Gaza and East Jerusalem.
Legendre also stated that roughly half of the 100 tonnes of aid France had provided to Gaza had made its way inside the territory.
She also stated that the future governance of Gaza, which she believes should be part of a future Palestinian state, should not be decided by Israel.
