UN chief calls for “immediate halt” to Israeli attack on West Bank

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for an immediate end to Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank late Wednesday evening. On Thursday, the operations continued into their second day, with at least 18 Palestinians killed after two days of escalating attacks.

Guterres' comments came as human rights groups condemned Israel after it launched an incursion into the northern West Bank on Wednesday morning – reportedly the biggest attack on the territory in decades. Guterres said the “dangerous developments” would “inflame an already explosive situation in the occupied West Bank and further undermine the Palestinian Authority,” according to the UN intelligence service.

“Recent developments in the occupied West Bank, including the launch of large-scale military operations by Israel, are deeply worrying,” the UN chief wrote on social media.

“I strongly condemn the loss of human life, including children, and call for an immediate cessation of these operations,” he added.

The Israeli assault included the destruction of infrastructure and a variety of attacks on at least four towns. Guterres was one of many international actors to condemn the incursion over the past two days.

“Israel’s launch of a major coordinated military assault on towns and villages across the occupied West Bank follows an escalation of unlawful killings by Israeli forces in recent months and will put more Palestinians at risk,” Erika Guevara Rosas, a senior director at Amnesty International, said in a statement.

Guevara Rosas expressed concern that the incursion would destroy important infrastructure and increase the number of forced displacements of Palestinians in the West Bank – methods that she said were “central pillars of the Israeli apartheid system”.

Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, said he was concerned about a refugee crisis like the one in Gaza.

“The last thing we want is for such mass expulsions to occur in the West Bank,” said Roth.Al-Jazeera.

“To be honest, the dream of the right-wing extremist ministers in [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's government should solve the 'problem' of the West Bank,” he added. “The problem of the apartheid regime that Israel maintains there should be solved by simply expelling the Palestinians. That would be a huge war crime.”

Human rights groups have also expressed concern about the increase in arbitrary detentions of Palestinians in the West Bank, which have already reached high levels since October 7. Detainees are often subjected to cruel mistreatment, and more than 50 have died. Israeli human rights group B'Tselem published a report earlier this month documenting systematic torture in the detention centers.

Israeli forces have arrested 25 Palestinians in the northern West Bank in the last 24 hours. Al-Jazeera reported, based on data from watchdog groups.

Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip since 1967. In an advisory opinion last month, the International Court of Justice declared the occupation of the Palestinian territories illegal.

Jeremy Corbyn, a UK MP and former leader of the Labour Party, argued that Western governments were complicit in Israel's attack on the West Bank and should impose an arms embargo.

“Israel knows it can commit war crimes with impunity,” he wrote on social media. “That is why it has launched its largest attack on the West Bank since 2002. We are witnessing the total annihilation of Palestine – and our government is shamefully complicit. Stop all arms sales to Israel immediately.”

So far, neither Britain nor the United States, Israel's main arms supplier, have taken such action. The Biden administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on the Israeli settler group Hashomer Yosh and three of its individual members, declaring them “extremist settler violence.”

While international attention has shifted to the West Bank, Israel's assault on Gaza continues. Israeli forces killed at least 15 Gaza residents in overnight attacks, including two girls hit by shrapnel. Al-Jazeera reported. Israeli forces have killed more than 40,000 Gaza residents and more than 600 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7, when Hamas and allied militant groups massacred more than 1,100 Israelis.