U.N. rights expert accuses Israel of excessive force against Palestinians

GENEVA | BY STEPHANIE NEBEHAY

The U.N. human rights investigator for Gaza and the West Bank called on Israel on Thursday to investigate what he called excessive force used by Israeli security against Palestinians and to prosecute perpetrators.

Makarim Wibisono, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, also told Israeli authorities to charge or release all Palestinian prisoners being held under lengthy administrative detention, including children.

"The upsurge in violence is a grim reminder of the unsustainable human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the volatile environment it engenders," he said in a final report to the Human Rights Council.

Twenty-seven Israelis and a U.S. citizen have been killed since October in near-daily Palestinian attacks that have included stabbings, shootings and car-rammings. Israeli forces have killed at least 157 Palestinians, 101 of them assailants, according to Israeli authorities.

Israel's foreign ministry dismissed the report as biased.

"The report reflects the one-sidedness of the mandate and its flagrant anti-Israel bias. It is this one-sidedness which has made the rapporteur's mission impossible to fulfill, hence his resignation," spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said.

"COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT"

Wibisono announced his resignation from the independent post last month, effective March 31, accusing Israel of reneging on its pledge to grant him access to Gaza and the West Bank.

Wibisino said on Thursday the upsurge of violence came against a backdrop of "illegal" Jewish settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, construction of a wall, and Israel's blockade of Gaza that amounted to a "stranglehold" and "collective punishment".

Israel must address these issues to uphold international law and ensure protection for Palestinians, he said.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-violence-un-idUSKCN0VK1NL