Amman, Jan. 20 (Petra) – The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the occupied Palestinian territories on Tuesday called on Israel to immediately stop measures targeting the geographic and demographic presence of Palestinians, including forced displacement and settlement expansion in and around East Jerusalem.

The office highlighted the accelerating pace of forced evictions of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, with increasing demolitions and evictions in the Silwan neighborhood south of the Old City, while Israel continues its illegal settlement expansion in the so-called E1 area, located at the heart of three major Palestinian urban centers: East Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Bethlehem.

In a statement, the UN rights office cited the International Court of Justice’s July 2024 ruling, which confirmed that Israeli policies in the occupied Palestinian territories including forced evictions and large-scale home demolitions violate the prohibition on forced displacement under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The ICJ also concluded that Israel’s illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territories must end, including a halt to all new settlement activities and the removal of all settlers from Palestinian land.

Ajith Sunghay, Head of the OHCHR Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said, “Across the West Bank, we are witnessing unprecedented levels of forced displacement, land appropriation, settler violence, and settlement expansion, entrenching annexation and undermining Palestinians’ right to self-determination. The international community must act now to pressure Israel to end these blatant violations of international law and strengthen Palestinians’ ability to exercise their human rights.”

//Petra// AF
20/01/2026 22:25:54