On Tuesday, Palestinian gunmen opened fire near an Israeli settlement, killing four people.
"We are very disturbed that violent settler activity has considerably increased in the last months and it's... becoming, in fact, the means through which (Israeli) annexation is insured," said Miloon Kothari, a member of a Commission of Inquiry mandated by the U.N. Human Rights Council.
The COI addressed the Geneva-based Human Rights Council earlier on Tuesday, accusing Israel's government of placing growing restrictions on Palestinian civil society groups.
Israel, which left its seat empty, said in a statement by its Foreign Minister Eli Cohen that the COI was a "stain on the U.N. and on the Human Rights Council".
The council cannot make legally binding decisions but evidence collected by the inquiries it establishes is sometimes used by international courts.
Persons:
Benjamin Netanyahu's, Miloon Kothari, Israel's, Eli Cohen, Michele Taylor, Kothari, Emma Farge, Mark Heinrich Our
Organizations:
West Bank, Human Rights, Rights, United, Israel, United Nations, Thomson
Locations:
GENEVA, Israel, Geneva, United States