Palestinian women walk towards Israeli security forces manning a checkpoint blocking an entrance to the occupied West Bank city of Hebron   (AFP)

Tel Aviv, August 20 (RHC)-- A high-ranking former Israeli military official insists the regime’s treatment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is identical to the discriminatory practices of Nazi Germany and amounts to apartheid.

Amiram Levin, who headed the military’s northern command, made the remarks during an interview with Israeli public broadcaster Kan on Sunday, amid escalating violence against Palestinians by the Israeli regime’s forces in the occupied territories.

He went on to emphasize that the Israeli military is "forced to exert sovereignty in the West Bank and is "rotting from the inside."  Levin went on to say that the Israeli military is standing by, looking at the settler rioters and is beginning to be a partner to war crimes,” adding, “These are deep processes.”  He further compared this treatment with Nazi Germany, arguing that “there is total apartheid” in the West Bank.

"It's hard for us to say it, but it's the truth. Walk around al-Khalil, look at the streets; streets where Arabs are no longer allowed to go on, only Jews," Levin further underlined. "That's exactly what happened there.”

The latest development comes almost a week after hundreds of academics and public figures from across occupied Palestine and other nations signed on to an open letter equating the Israeli regime's decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories with apartheid.

Back in June, former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also said the Israeli regime’s violence and violation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories could amount to apartheid.  The Israeli oppression of Palestinians has witnessed a sharp rise under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s extremist coalition cabinet, which is composed of far-right Zionist parties that oppose Palestinian statehood and support the expansion of illegal settlements.

Over the past months, the Israeli regime has intensified attacks against Palestinian towns and cities throughout the occupied territories. As a result of these attacks, dozens of Palestinians have lost their lives and many others have been arrested.

Most of the raids have targeted the cities of Nablus and Jenin in the occupied West Bank, where the regime’s forces have been trying to stifle a growing Palestinian resistance against the occupation.

One of the objectives of Israeli raids on various locations across the occupied West Bank has been to demolish structures that belong to the Palestinians, whom the regime accuses of killing Zionist settlers.  As a result of these attacks, over 160 Palestinians, including 28 children, have lost their lives and many others have been arrested in 2023.