Israel ‘asphyxiating’ Palestinians for ‘apartheid system’ in West Bank: UN

Volker Turk’s description of the occupied West Bank’s situation as ‘apartheid’ marks first time a United Nations human rights chief has used term.Published On 7 Jan 2026The United Nations human rights office has called on Israel to “dismantle all settlements” in the occupied West Bank, saying its “oppression and domination” of Palestinians resembles “apartheid”.In a new report on Wednesday, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights slammed Israel’s “systemic discrimination” against Palestinians, citing restrictions on movement through checkpoints, and “limited access to roads, natural resources, land and basic social facilities”.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Press association condemns Israel’s continued ban on media access to Gazalist 2 of 4Israeli forces raid Birzeit University in the occupied West Banklist 3 of 4Israeli assault on Palestinian university wounds dozens in West Bank raidlist 4 of 4Israel escalates West Bank demolitions amid illegal settlement expansionend of list“There is a systematic asphyxiation of the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank,” said UN rights chief Volker Turk in a statement. “This is a particularly severe form of racial discrimination and segregation that resembles the kind of apartheid system we have seen before.”While UN-affiliated independent experts have described the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories as “apartheid”, Turk’s comments marked the first time a UN rights chief used the term, which was coined during South Africa’s system of racial segregation that lasted from 1948 to 1994.Turk said every aspect of life in the occupied West Bank is “controlled and curtailed by Israel’s discriminatory laws, policies and practices”, from accessing water to harvesting olives.Wednesday’s report called out the Israeli authorities for treating Israeli settlers and Palestinians “under two distinct bodies of law and policies, resulting in unequal treatment on a range of critical issues”, with “large-scale confiscation of land and deprivation of access to resources”.