GENEVA, December 28. /TASS/. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has called on Israel to investigate all cases of violence by Israeli security forces and Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, according to a report published by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Some 300 Palestinians, including 80 children, were killed in the region from October 7 to December 27.

"I call on Israel to take immediate, clear and effective steps to put an end to settler violence against the Palestinian population, to investigate all incidents of violence by settlers and Israeli Security Forces, to ensure effective protection of Palestinian communities against any form of forcible transfer," the UN high commissioner said. He called on Israel to allow OHCHR representatives access to the country.

According to the report, 291 Palestinians, including 79 children, were killed by disproportionate or unnecessary use of force by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) or security units in the West Bank between October 7 and December 27. Violence perpetrated by Jewish settlers resulted in the deaths of eight Palestinians, including one child. The report noted that another Palestinian was killed either by Israeli security forces or by settlers, bringing the total number of victims of violence to 300.

The document cites daily mass arrests carried out by Israeli security services in the West Bank. The detainees "were spat at, slammed against walls, threatened, insulted, humiliated and in some cases subjected to sexual and gender-based violence." Since October 7, 4,700 Palestinians have been arrested.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants of the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from Gaza, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel has declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and started a military operation there. The IDF is also striking parts of Lebanon and Syria in retaliation for attacks originating from these countries. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.