The UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] on Friday cautioned [press release] Israel that their response to the deadly Tel Aviv attack earlier this week may be violating international law by implementing prohibitive collective punishment. The Israeli government cancelled 83,000 travel permits to Gaza and West Bank residents, preventing Palestinians residents from traveling to Israel during Ramadan. They also suspended 204 work permits previously granted to the extended families of the alleged attackers. The High Commissioner condemned the deadly attacks against Israel and expressed that they have an obligation to bring the perpetrators to justice but not to punish possibly thousands of innocent Palestinians in the process. He stated:

We are also deeply concerned at the response of the Israeli authorities, which includes measures that may amount to prohibited collective punishment and will only increase the sense of injustice and frustration felt by Palestinians in this very tense time. The response has included . . . the sealing off of their entire home town by the Israeli security forces.

The attack that triggered the permit action occurred on Wednesday when four Israelis were killed by gunfire and several more were injured.

The increase in violence in the ongoing Israel-Palestinian conflict [HRW backgrounder] has created a contentious human rights situation. The UN Committee Against Torture (CAT), a body of independent experts, released [JURIST report] closing remarks to its fifty-seventh session in May, expressing concern about the use of excessive force by Israeli forces against Palestinians. An Israeli court in April convicted[JURIST report] Yosef Haim for the 2014 murder of a Palestinian teenager that led to a 50-day war in Gaza. UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories Makarim Wibisono [official profile] resigned [JURIST report] from his position in January, saying that Israel has not granted him access to the Occupied Palestinian Territory after repeated requests.