[JURIST] Flavia Pansieri, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights told [press release] the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Monday that human rights violations “fuel and shape the conflict” in the occupied Palestinian territories. Pansieri presented six documents to the council on behalf of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Secretary-General for Human Rights. She stated that, “[h]uman rights violations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are both cause and consequence of the military occupation and ongoing violence, in a bitter cyclical process with wider implications for peace and security in the region.” She said that most of the recommendations from the High Commissioner and Secretary-General have been ignored in the region. Israel boycotted Monday’s session.

The Israel-Palestine conflict [HRW backgrounder] continues to be a significant international legal issue. In November the UNHRC urged Israel to investigate [JURIST report] alleged violations committed by its forces during the recent conflict in Gaza. The 2014 conflict lasted from July 8 to August 26, resulting in more than 100,000 buildings damaged and nearly 2,200 deaths, with a high quantity of civilian casualties. In September Human Rights Watch accused the Israeli military of committing war crimes [JURIST report] by attacking schools where hundreds of displaced Palestinians sought shelter. Also in September the Shurat HaDin of the Israel Law Center asked the International Criminal Court to open an investigation [JURIST report] into alleged war crimes committed by Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.