Palestinian children rush to get out of the way of a moving aid truck in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Monday, following a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. MOHAMMED SALEM/REUTERS
As a fragile cease-fire holds in Gaza, violence and raids by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank are intensifying, drawing warnings from the United Nations.
Any move to annex the West Bank would constitute "a most serious violation of international law", UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a Security Council meeting on Monday, emphasizing that some senior Israeli officials have openly discussed annexation plans.
Guterres expressed deep concern over "an existential threat to the integrity and contiguity of the occupied Palestinian territory of Gaza and the West Bank".
"It is clear that greater stability in the Middle East requires irreversible action toward a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians," he said.
In a statement, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Palestine said it was alarmed by "a wave of renewed violence perpetrated by settlers and Israeli security forces" in the West Bank, which coincides with the implementation of the Gaza cease-fire agreement and the release of hostages and detainees.
"This has been accompanied by increased restrictions on Palestinians' freedom of movement across the West Bank, including complete closure of some checkpoints and installation of new gates, effectively confining entire communities," the statement said.
Further, Israeli officials' warnings against Palestinian families celebrating the release of detained loved ones have coincided with calls by settlers to gather and stage attacks near locations where detainees are returning home.
According to the UN human rights office, settler attacks followed on Sunday in towns, including Sinjil, Turmus Ayya and Qalqilya, where scores of settlers torched Palestinian houses and vehicles, blocked roads and hurled stones. Six Palestinians were injured in Sinjil, including three children aged 14 to 16.
Palestinian security forces also detained several Palestinians, including journalists covering the release of Palestinian detainees.
The UN human rights office in Palestine said that while the ceasefire takes hold in Gaza, it is important to "stress again that international law binds duty-bearers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory".
"Israel has an obligation as the occupying power to ensure the protection of Palestinians from all acts of violence," it said.
Imposing 'price tag'
Israeli human rights group B'Tselem shared on X that a 15-year-old boy was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in Sebastia, West Bank. The post, accompanied by a video, accused settlers of imposing a "price tag" for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Israel has released 90 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for three hostages as part of a multiphase cease-fire and hostage-prisoner swap agreement with Palestinian militant group Hamas.
However, recent attacks in the West Bank have raised doubts over efforts to stem the conflict and whether the truce will hold.
Ayman Yousef, a professor of international relations at the Arab American University in Jenin, West Bank, told China Daily that there are "many factors that led to this cycle, or round of confrontations", and one of them is the current cease-fire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to compensate for his deal with Hamas by "providing more spaces for settlers" in the West Bank amid Donald Trump's return to the White House, he said, noting the new US president is "extremely supportive of Israel and its policies in the West Bank".
Yousef believes the Palestinians are entering "the phase of a new wave of violence by the settlers "and a new wave of confrontation. The Israeli army, meanwhile, "is threatening the Palestinians day and night", he said, especially refugees in the northern West Bank.
"I'm very much pessimistic about the future of the truce and the future political deal with Hamas in Gaza," he said.
"Israel will not stop the war. They may stop fighting temporarily but again they will go back to fight because they feel Gaza is still posing a real threat to Israel, and there is a good opportunity for the Israeli side to settle many political issues and political differences with the Palestinians through this war."
