The perpetrators of a deadly rampage targeting a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank must face justice to deter future attacks, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, insisted on Friday.

Echoing widespread condemnation internationally and within Israel of the attack reportedly by Israeli settlers on the village of Jit on Thursday which left a Palestinian man dead and about a dozen injured, OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani described the incident as “horrific”.

She noted that the killing “was not an isolated attack”, in reference to years of violence directed at Palestinian communities by Israeli settlers, maintaining that it was “the direct consequence” of Israel’s policy of occupation.

“There have been very few investigations but even in those cases, most of the times these do not conclude with justice for the victims and for the perpetrators. There are reports of Israeli security forces standing by as attacks take place. There are even reports of weapons being distributed to the settlers. So, there is clearly a State responsibility in this regard