In a landmark declaration, United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Turk has formally characterized Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank as an “apartheid system,” marking the first time a UN rights chief has applied this controversial term to the situation. A comprehensive report released Wednesday details what it describes as intensifying systematic discrimination against Palestinians across occupied territories.
The UN investigation reveals that Israeli authorities enforce two distinct legal systems and policies for Israeli settlers and Palestinians, creating profoundly unequal treatment across critical areas including land rights, resource access, and judicial proceedings. Palestinians face large-scale land confiscation, resource deprivation, and systematic violations of due process rights through military court prosecutions.
Turk emphasized that “every aspect of life for Palestinians in the West Bank is controlled and curtailed by Israel’s discriminatory laws, policies and practices,” from accessing water and education to seeking medical care and visiting relatives. The report specifically highlights the “systematic asphyxiation of the rights of Palestinians” through what it terms a “particularly severe form of racial discrimination and segregation.”
Compounding the discrimination, the document details escalating settler violence that frequently occurs “with the acquiescence, support and participation of Israel’s security forces.” Since the start of the Gaza war following Hamas’s October 2023 attack, Israeli troops and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to figures from the Palestinian health ministry.
The report documents an “almost complete impunity” for unlawful killings, noting that of over 1,500 Palestinian deaths between 2017 and September 2025, Israeli authorities opened just 112 investigations resulting in only one conviction. Additionally, thousands of Palestinians remain arbitrarily detained under administrative detention without charge or trial.
The UN rights office has called on Israel to immediately repeal all laws, policies and practices perpetuating systemic discrimination based on race, religion or ethnic origin. It further urged Israel to end its “unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory, including by dismantling all settlements and evacuating all settlers,” while respecting the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.