UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet announced that Israel is refusing to issue and renew visas for UN human rights officials in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

In 2020, 15 international staff from my office in Palestine, who had been in the country for 26 years, had no choice but to leave, and visa applications and subsequent visa extensions went unanswered for two years; during this time I tried to find a solution. However, Israel continues to refuse to cooperate in this situation, and Israel’s refusal to issue or renew visas for UN human rights officers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory will not prevent OHCHR from continuing to monitor and report on the human rights situation on the ground.

“Israel, as a Member State of the United Nations, shall cooperate in good faith with the United Nations and grant to its officials the privileges and immunities necessary for the independent exercise of their functions, including the obligation to exempt United Nations officials from immigration restrictions, and to consider requests about visas,” Bachelet added, “UN visas for UN officials as soon as possible,” and added: “Israel’s failure to process the visa applications required for the arrival of staff working under my supervision is inconsistent with these standards, and I urge the government to comply their international obligations in this regard.

Bachelet believes that the ban on international staff of the United Nations Office of Human Rights came in the context of Israeli authorities increasingly restricting “the eyes and ears of human rights defenders on the ground, and the number of United Nations staff and mechanisms is increasing.” States, NGOs and others who have been expelled or denied entry, Israel’s treatment of our employees is part of a wider and disturbing trend of denying human rights access to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which raises the question of what exactly the Israeli authorities are trying to do . hide.