GENEVA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- On the eve of the 50th year of the Israeli occupation, which will fall on June 5 this year, a UN Rapporteur on Friday expressed his deep concern about the deteriorating human rights situation in the Occupied Palestine Territory (OPT).
"Occupations are inherently temporary and short-term under international law. Yet this occupation, after five decades, has no end in sight," said Michael Lynk, UN Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.
Speaking after a five-day mission to Amman, Jordan, the human rights expert said that Israel has not permitted him to visit the OPT since he assumed his mandate in May 2016.
"It is with great concern that I look towards the future of Gaza, with all the reports I received this week indicating that the situation in the Strip is extremely dire," Lynk stressed.
"The ongoing electricity crisis has created an untenable situation, with predictions that by mid-June, a significant proportion of essential health, sanitation and water services may be inoperable," he added.
The expert also expressed deep concern about the situation in the West Bank, noting that significant settlement construction had recently been announced.
Talking about the current situation in East Jerusalem, Lynk said that while Palestinian Jerusalemites are confined to living in 13 percent of the area, they were still facing a consistent threat of losing their residency rights and considerable obstacles when applying for building permits.
"Israel has never recognized this part of the city as occupied territory, and the Jerusalem municipality treats its Palestinian residents in a highly discriminatory fashion when providing services," he underscored.
