U.N. urges Israel to stop settler attacks

A Palestinian woman embraces her daughter during the funeral of her husband in the West Bank village of Qusra, on Saturday. Her husband was shot dead during a clash with Israeli soldiers and settlers. Photo: AP

The U.N. human rights office has called on Israel to stop attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

A spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights says Israel has a legal obligation “to protect Palestinian civilians and property in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that the attacks should be properly investigated and victims compensated.

Mr. Colville said the attacks since the beginning of September were “emblematic of the phenomenon of settler violence throughout the West Bank.”

He cited the shooting death of a civilian by an Israeli soldier in the West Bank village of Qusra on Sept. 23, and the uprooting of 200 olive trees in the village on Oct. 6.