A top United Nations investigator has called on the U.N. Human Rights Council to investigate Israel’s continued expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, Richard Falk, described Israel’s actions as a form of ethnic cleansing.

Richard Falk: “As the report illustrates, the continued pattern of settlement expansion in East Jerusalem, combined with forceful eviction of long-residing Palestinians, are creating an intolerable situation that can only be described in its cumulative impact as a form of ethnic cleansing.”