UN rights office says Israeli settlements in Palestinian areas are a ‘war crime’

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone/AP)

The UN human rights office says in a report that the establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem amount to a war crime.

The report covers the one-year period from November 1, 2022, to October 31, 2023, when it says roughly 24,300 housing units in existing settlements in the West Bank were “advanced” — the highest number in a year since monitoring began in 2017.