Report by Israeli human rights group [B’Tselem] says systematic and broad assault being waged on conditions required for Palestinians’ existence

A Palestinian shepherd from the hamlet of Anizan, where residents have been repeatedly driven out of their homes by settlers. Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian

Israel accused of trying to ‘eliminate’ living conditions for Palestinians in West Bank

Quique Kierszenbaum in Sair, and Peter Beaumont

Mon 14 Sep 2026

Israel is working towards the systematic “elimination” of the conditions that sustain Palestinian collective life in the occupied West Bank, according to a major report published by the human rights group B’Tselem.

The Israeli organisation’s hard-hitting report, shared with the Guardian in advance of publication, says Israel is “dramatically intensifying its attacks on every aspect of Palestinian life in the West Bank”, including “the ability to get to work, take children to school or university, receive medical treatment or municipal services, meet family and friends, cultivate land or go on vacation … routine activities that make up human life”.

According to B’Tselem, the assault on Palestinians is “governed by a coherent organising logic” and comprises five “interwoven domains of action”: violence and intimidation, movement restrictions, economic strangulation, social and political destruction, and ethnic cleansing and territorial takeover.

The publication of the Elimination Project, B’Tselem’s most comprehensive piece of work on the West Bank since its launch in 1989, comes less than a week after the British foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, accused settler terrorists, supported by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, of committing ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, in the UK’s starkest condemnation of Israel since the foundation of the state.

By looking more broadly at the conditions required for Palestinians’ collective existence, however, the B’Tselem report goes further still. It says various arms of the Israeli state – led by Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right finance minister with broad powers over civilian matters in the West Bank – are seeking to “create a reality in which millions of Palestinians live in constant fear of Israeli military and civilian violence”.

“Palestinian communities are being pushed out in an accelerating process of ethnic cleansing, while an ever-expanding Israeli presence is being established in their place in the form of settlements, outposts, farms and Jewish-only civilian infrastructure,” the report says. “Elimination in this context means sustained harm to the conditions that enable Palestinians to exist as a people with land, institutions, language, culture, social ties, leadership, shared memory and history, and a social and political horizon.

“It is an ongoing political project that seeks to re-organise space and the conditions of life so that Jewish presence becomes contiguous, institutionalised and permanent, while Palestinian existence becomes fragmented, vulnerable and dependent.”

One of the most obvious aspects of this fragmentation is the closure of roads and villages to Palestinian passage...READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/sep/14/israel-palestinian-living-conditions-eliminated-west-bank-human-rights-report

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A quarter century later, we must recognize that “wars on terror” have undermined Human Rights and stretched the fundamental principles of international law to breaking point. Security and human rights must go hand in hand

United Nations Special Procedures

@UN_SPExperts

 

A quarter century later, we must recognize that “wars on terror” have undermined #HumanRights and stretched the fundamental principles of international law to breaking point. Security and human rights must go hand in hand - UN experts. See full statement: https://ohchr.org/en/statements-

 https://x.com/UN_SPExperts/status/2098433756491059327

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9/11 anniversary: A quarter century of global counter-terrorism has endangered human rights

11 September 2026

On today’s 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States of America, we pay tribute to the thousands of victims who lost their lives, to their families, and to the communities whose lives were forever changed by those horrific acts of violence. We equally acknowledge the millions of other victims worldwide of terrorist attacks, excessive counter-terrorism responses, and conflicts in the name of countering terrorism.

Terrorist violence causes profound human suffering, and every State has a duty to protect people from it and to uphold the right to life. We welcome that many governments have assisted and protected the victims of terrorism, and provided remedies, reparation and memorialization. Many countries have also strengthened security measures in ways that respect human rights.

Yet, too many governments have adopted unnecessary and disproportionate responses that have seriously undermined human rights, civil society, civic space, democracy, and the rule of law. Our worldwide monitoring over the past quarter century has exposed the gravest violations of international law in the name of countering terrorism. Wars of aggression. Unlawful occupations. Countless war crimes and crimes against humanity, and plausible allegations of genocide. Assassinations dressed up as “targeted killings”. Torture disguised as “interrogation”. Transboundary abductions, extraordinary renditions, and transnational repression. Secret detention and enforced disappearances. Unfair military trials and special courts, including at Guantanamo Bay. Toxic residues from conflicts have severely harmed human health.

“Wars on terror” have stretched foundational rules of international law beyond their breaking point, including excessive claims about national self-defence and what is permissible under international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law. State violence, foreign intervention, and impunity have counter-productively fuelled terrorism and insecurity locally and even globally, as with the spread of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant after the 2003 aggression in Iraq.

State violations have also entrenched cycles of violence and impeded the just resolution of protracted conflicts in line with international law, as in the unlawfully occupied Palestinian territory.

Other violations have become almost routine in some countries, including the politicized abuse of overbroad terrorism and “extremism” laws, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment including inadequate health care, denial of fair trial before independent courts, the unjustified imposition of the death penalty and disproportionate penalties, and breaches of privacy and other basic rights. Exceptional temporary laws to address public emergencies have increasingly been made permanent.

Human rights have been further undermined by the arbitrary use of restrictive administrative measures. These include security detention, “control orders”, terrorist and “State terrorist” designations and sanctions (some of which affected whole populations), coercive “re-education”, travel bans, migration controls, citizenship revocation, and internet, communications and online content restrictions.

The use of new and emerging technologies, without adequate safeguards, is a key facilitator of violations. This includes drones, online and offline mass surveillance, spyware, biometric systems, and border security tools. Artificial intelligence and the automation of weapons systems pose heightened risks to the right to life and can undermine accountability. Businesses developing, supplying, or deploying these technologies should ensure that human rights are respected throughout their lifecycle, in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Civil society has been heavily impacted by counter-terrorism measures, which have been used to target, harass, intimidate, threaten and silence many actors. These include human rights defenders, journalists, dissidents, environmental and land defenders, academics, scientists, artists, non-governmental organizations, social movements, minorities, Indigenous Peoples, peasants and migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Civic space has been eroded by unjustified restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly, and the right to take part in public affairs.

Terrorism sanctions, financing laws and “support” offences, and bank de-risking and over-compliance, have led to over-regulation of non-profit organizations, contrary to the risk-based, proportionate approach required under international standards. Such measures have impeded and deterred impartial humanitarian activities in conflict zones, preventing assistance to civilians and undermining economic, social and cultural rights. Security Council and Financial Action Task Force standards have not adequately mitigated these risks and have been misused by some States to restrict civil society.

Counter-terrorism measures have violated the rights of vulnerable groups, including by failing to recognize children as victims of terrorist groups, consider their best interests, provide for their rehabilitation and reintegration, detain them only as last resort and for the shortest possible time, and use specialized juvenile justice processes. Women have experienced differential impacts of counter-terrorism and gendered assumptions about their agency as perpetrators, victims, and participants in counter-terrorism and civil society. Religious, racial and ethnic profiling has victimized some groups.

The Security Council has been part of the problem, by requiring all States to adopt highly intrusive measures without defining terrorism, guaranteeing safeguards, or effectively enforcing international law.

The sheer number, breadth, and invasive nature of counter-terrorism measures has strengthened repression and authoritarianism, in an era of backsliding on human rights and democracy. State violations not only cannot defeat terrorism, but can breed it. They also deny justice to victims of terrorism.

We urge States to review their counter-terrorism laws and practices to comply with international human rights, humanitarian, and refugee law, to establish effective independent oversight and accountability mechanisms to prevent and effectively remedy violations, and to protect and assist victims of terrorism and of unlawful counter-terrorism measures alike.

We also call on States to more meaningfully address the conditions conducive to terrorism under the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. Trillions of dollars have been spent on highly securitized responses, yet terrorism is more prevalent, in more places, than before 9/11. The world must adequately fund long-term initiatives to prevent terrorism, by prioritizing conflict resolution and peace building, good governance and political inclusion, the rule of law, sustainable development, humanitarian assistance, and human rights for all.

 https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2026/09/911-anniversary-quarter-century-global-counter-terrorism-has

United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk stresses that respect for human rights, international law & accountability are essential to building lasting peace...

High Commissioner Türk updates Human Rights Council: Human rights are carriers of hope

07 September 2026

63rd session of the Human Rights Council - GENEVA

Trilingual version (PDF) 

Mr. President, 
Excellencies, 
Distinguished participants,

We live in an age of extremes.

Raging wars, painful polarization, climate chaos, and head-spinning technological change make people feel disoriented and even powerless.

Strong forces are working to create and sustain that feeling.

Tech moguls, populists, and vested interests, amplified by social media echo chambers, tell us these trends are inevitable.

In fact, the opposite is true.

History is full of brave people who took action to resist oppression and demand their rights. People who called out injustice and inequality. People who refused to accept their fate, coming together to channel the universal values that underpin our humanity.

This truth is a force to be reckoned with, underpinning all we are doing.

The past years have been marked by a growing number of armed conflicts, and diminishing respect for international human rights and humanitarian law, and the United Nations Charter itself.

There are now more than 60 wars involving at least one State – the highest number since the end of the Second World War. The surge in conflict between States takes us into particularly dangerous territory.

I am alarmed by the resumption of attacks between the United States and Iran, affecting the entire Gulf region. Recent reports of civilian deaths and injuries, including at a wedding in Hormozgan province, are particularly concerning. The geopolitical and economic impacts of this entirely avoidable crisis are again reverberating around the world, and I appeal for an immediate return to negotiations.

Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine, now in its fifth year, is on a menacing trajectory, with soaring civilian casualties and intensified attacks on energy infrastructure. While the overwhelming majority of civilians killed are Ukrainians, there are also reports of growing numbers of deaths and injuries in Russia.

I am horrified by reports that fully autonomous drones launched by the Russian Federation killed three Ukrainians last month. Ukraine has reportedly also field-tested such weapons. I join calls for the urgent prohibition of weapons that can take lives without human involvement.

There is only one way out of this madness: peace negotiations that respect the UN Charter.

In its fourth year, the war in Sudan is expanding. Parties to the conflict continue to launch attacks on markets, hospitals, fuel stations and other civilian infrastructure. I urge the Council to focus on the deteriorating situation in Kordofan, Blue Nile, and North and West Darfur, where civilians are at imminent risk. Again, there needs to be an immediate ceasefire, an end to foreign involvement, and a return to inclusive civilian rule.

In Gaza, Israel has killed more than 1,300 Palestinians in daily strikes, despite the ceasefire that was announced almost a year ago, according to figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health. It continues to restrict the entry of humanitarian aid. I am appalled by Israeli proposals for the forced expulsion of all Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, and the constant stream of dehumanising rhetoric by some senior officials.

I am also troubled that armed groups affiliated with Hamas have executed and tortured several Palestinians suspected of collaboration.

In the West Bank, Israel’s annexation is unfolding, unobstructed, despite the clear ruling of the International Court of Justice. What more will it take for States to take action to prevent the entrenchment of occupation across land earmarked for Palestinians under the two-state solution? They need to end the transfer to Israel of arms that risk being used to violate international law. Companies also need to end business practices that support illegal settlements.

We need far greater efforts by the international community towards sustainable peace, in which Palestine and Israel live side by side in equal dignity and rights, in line with UN resolutions and international law. Words of condemnation ring hollow in the face of deliberate violations and suffering.

In Lebanon, Israeli forces must end attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure. My Office’s assessment team is investigating violations committed by both Israel and Hezbollah since 2 March; this is crucial for truth-telling and accountability.

Beyond these conflicts, there are many places around the world where people are neither at war, nor at peace.

Negotiations are breaking down. Ceasefires are disregarded.

I am concerned about renewed hostilities in South Sudan and escalating tensions in Yemen. I urge the parties to exercise restraint and the international community to do all it can to avert a return to all-out war.

And I again urge the Houthis... READ MORE  https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2026/09/high-commissioner-turk-updates-human-rights-council-human-rights 

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United Nations: For 80 years, the UN has been saving lives & helping people by: 🇺🇳 feeding the hungry 🇺🇳 helping those forced to flee 🇺🇳 vaccinating children 🇺🇳 promoting human rights 🇺🇳 protecting the planet 🇺🇳 responding to humanitarian crises & more....

United Nations

@UN

 

For 80 years, the UN has been saving lives & helping people by: 

🇺🇳 feeding the hungry 

🇺🇳 helping those forced to flee 

🇺🇳 vaccinating children 

🇺🇳 promoting human rights 

🇺🇳 protecting the planet 

🇺🇳 responding to humanitarian crises & more.  

 

https://un.org/en/UN80

 

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The United Nations at 80

Building our future together

https://www.un.org/en/UN80#more 

Eleanor ROOSEVELT of the United States holds a poster of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Lake Success, NY, November 1949.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 217A at its 3rd session in Paris on 10 December 1948. From 1946-1948 delegates to the United Nations discussed and drafted an international declaration on the subject of human rights that has become a standard of principles for human rights.

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• A Historical Record of the Drafting Process
• Women who shaped the Universal Declaration
• More Multilateral Agreements from the decade 1946-1955

 

 

 

 17 Goals to Transform Our World

The Sustainable Development Goals are a call for action by all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection.... READ MORE  https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/

"Perhaps the most terrifying thing about Gaza was not that the world allowed it to happen. It was discovering that Gaza was only the beginning...."

Doctor, sometimes a writer. Revealing hidden stories, a voice for the unheard. Witness to humanity's darkest depths. Palestine https://hope-heal.org/  

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https://x.com/ezzingaza/status/2096672691130703996 

Dr. Ezzideen

@ezzingaza

Perhaps the most terrifying thing about Gaza was not that the world allowed it to happen. It was discovering that Gaza was only the beginning.

 

All the speeches, protests, resolutions, international laws, red lines, condemnations, and promises of “never again” have apparently taught this monster nothing.

 

This morning, Israeli strikes completely destroyed Ghandour Hospital in southern Lebanon.

 

Another hospital !! Another building once meant for healing reduced to rubble.

 

We watched hospitals in Gaza bombed, besieged, evacuated, burned and destroyed. We were told Gaza was exceptional. We were told the world was watching. International institutions issued statements. Governments expressed “concern.”

People marched through capitals demanding that there must be a line even war is not allowed to cross.

 

And now we are watching those lines disappear somewhere else.

 

Again.

We are living through a dark age in which military power and money seem capable of crushing almost everything humanity spent generations pretending was sacred: international law, hospitals, homes, places of worship, trees, memory, and human life itself.

 

And perhaps that is what terrifies me most.

 

Not only that these things are being destroyed, but that the world is being trained to watch their destruction and continue with its day.

 

A hospital becomes rubble. A neighborhood disappears. A family becomes photographs. Another condemnation is written.

 

And elsewhere, people wake up, drink their coffee, go to work, come home, and sleep.

 

I once believed that knowing what happened would be enough to make humanity afraid of repeating it.

 

Now I understand the more terrible possibility:

Human beings can know.

They can remember.

They can build museums to the dead, teach their names in schools, write “never again” above their graves; and still allow another human being to become rubble.

 

It happened.

Therefore it could happen again.

 

Perhaps the mistake was believing that “again” would look exactly like the first time.

 

If hell is a place where power can destroy human beings, homes, hospitals, memory, and life itself, while those who built laws to prevent it discover that their laws cannot make it stop, then perhaps hell does not require another world.

 

Perhaps it requires only this one,

and enough people willing to continue their day.

 

#SurvivalTestimony