UN rights chief slams Israel's failure to grant visas for staff in West Bank

Geneva [Switzerland], August 30 (ANI/Sputnik): UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday denounced Israel's refusal to issue or extend visas for UN staff to monitor the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory.
"In 2020, the 15 international staff of my Office in Palestine - which has been operating in the country for 26 years - had no choice but to leave," Bachelet said in a statement, adding that the agency's requests for visas and visa extensions went unanswered for two years.
"This raises the question of what exactly the Israeli authorities are trying to hide," she added .
The UN human rights chief vowed that her office would continue to monitor and report on the human rights situation in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, as well as demand access to the occupied Palestinian territory for UN staff.
Bachelet called on the Israeli government to "meet its international obligations" under the UN and "grant its officials the privileges and immunities necessary for them to exercise their functions," according to the statement.
Last year, as a result of the actions of Israeli forces, 320 Palestinians were killed, which is 10 times more than in 2020, and 17,042 people were injured, six times more than in 2020, the statement said, adding that, as of 2022, Israeli forces have killed at least 111 Palestinians. (ANI/Sputnik)