UN human rights office expresses concern over escalating violence after deaths near Nablus over weekend

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The United Nations has voiced grave concern over escalating violence in the West Bank, demanding that Israeli security forces “immediately” stop supporting settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied territory.

The statement from the UN’s human rights office was issued hours after two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli settlers in a northern village south of Nablus, in the latest violent attack involving settlers in the increasingly tense West Bank.

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Curators protesting against Gaza conflict say ‘art can wait but women, children and people living though hell cannot’

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The artists and curators of the Israeli national pavilion at the Venice Biennale have announced their decision not to open until “a ceasefire and hostage release agreement is reached” in the conflict in Gaza, on the opening preview day of the largest and most prominent global gathering in the art world.

A sign on the front of the Israel pavilion in the Giardini, or public gardens, in Venice, one of the main venues for the Biennale, conveyed the team’s decision – while the pavilion itself is guarded by three armed Italian military personnel.

In fact, terror attacks and hostage-taking sparked several recent conflicts that US presidents of both parties labeled genocide

My old boss Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, bravely said recently what Joe Biden has been afraid to: “Palestinian civilians do not deserve to suffer for the sins of Hamas, and Israel has a moral obligation to do better. The United States has an obligation to do better.”

The ongoing violence, Schumer noted, threatens not just the lives of Palestinians but the security of Jewish people worldwide by alienating global allies appalled by the bloodshed. If Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to desist, he concluded, the US must start “shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage” – which obviously includes military, diplomatic and economic aspects.

Iran’s military spokesperson tells western allies to stop supporting Israel and warns of response to any further aggression

• Full report: IDF chief of staff says Israel will respond
• Explainer: how will Israel respond to Iran’s attack

A senior spokesperson for Iran’s military has warned the US, UK, France and Germany to stop supporting Israel, and said that there will be an even stronger response from Iran if Israel retaliates to the strikes at the weekend.

The official state news agency IRNA reports that Brig Gen Abolfazl Shekarchi said:

We remind the heads of state of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany to stop supporting the declining child-killing terrorist regime of Israel. The Islamic Republic of Iran has proven that it is not a warmonger and does not seek to spread the war. The response will be stronger if the regime carries out more severe aggressive act.

After Iran launched an attack on Israel, is the region heading for all-out war? Emma Graham-Harrison reports

On 1 April, Israel launched an attack on what Iran says was the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria. The assault killed two Iranian generals among others and Iran vowed to retaliate. On Saturday night it took action, sending hundreds of drones and rockets into Israel. It was the first time Iran had attacked Israeli territory.

The Guardian’s senior foreign correspondent, Emma Graham-Harrison, was in Jerusalem. She explains why, despite Israel emerging remarkably unscathed – with just one young girl seriously injured – the situation could spiral out of control. The latest attack is a frightening escalation of the hostile relationship between the two countries, who have previously fought a “shadow war” through proxies and in countries such as Syria or Iraq.

General gives clearest confirmation yet that Israel will hit back but it is unclear what form response will take

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Israel’s top general has said the country will respond to Iran’s missile and drone attack, but it remains unclear what form that response will take and whether it will be so forceful that it could tip a worsening spiral of violence into a full-scale regional war.

US officials said on Monday that some form of counter to Iran’s attack, which involved more than 300 missiles and drones , was almost inevitable, but the Biden administration was still hoping it would be a limited counterstrike and not aimed at Iranian territory.

The world does not know what’s been unleashed in the tit-for-tat attacks. But it is unlikely to be anything good

It is troubling that what started with Israel’s attack on Iran’s consular building in Syria on 1 April may not end with Tehran’s Operation True Promise . The bombing in Damascus, which killed at least two top Iranian generals, resulted in the first-ever direct strikes launched against Israel from Iranian territory. For the Islamic regime, unpopular at home, crossing the Rubicon would have been very hard, if not impossible, to avoid. As British foreign secretary, David Cameron, admitted, the UK would “take very strong action” if a hostile power had flattened one of its consulates.

This is a defining moment in the Middle East. The world does not know what’s been unleashed here. But it is unlikely to be anything good. That is why it is right for world leaders to urge Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to show restraint. The wise choice for Mr Netanyahu would be, in US president Joe Biden’s words, to “take the win ” of having seen off the strikes and not respond militarily. Israel’s prime minister could then turn his attention to the on-and-off talks with Hamas to free Israeli hostages and seek an end to the fighting in Gaza. Trading military restraint for international support might appeal to Mr Netanyahu’s opportunism.

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