The United Nations human rights office on Tuesday condemned Israeli security forces and Jewish settlers for killing over 500 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since Oct. 7.

It said in a statement that Israel had used "unnecessary and disproportionate" force in the Israeli-occupied territory and condemned what it said was the systematic denial of medical aid.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the U.N. statement.

"As if the tragic events in Israel and then Gaza over the past eight months were not enough, the people of the occupied West Bank are also being subjected to day-after-day of unprecedented bloodshed," United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement.

"It is unfathomable that so many lives have been taken in such a wanton fashion."

Türk insisted "the killing, destruction and widespread human rights violations are unacceptable, and must cease immediately."

"Israel must not only adopt but enforce rules of engagement that are fully in line with applicable human rights norms and standards," he said, demanding accountability for all alleged unlawful killings.

Violence has surged in the West Bank since the Hamas-led incursion of Israel on Oct. 7 last year was met by a brutal Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip, killing more than 36,000 Palestinians.

Israeli security forces have in recent months cracked down on the West Bank, which Palestinians want as the core of a future independent state along with Gaza, and made thousands of arrests.

Israeli officials have previously claimed that they are acting to prevent inflammation of long-running violence in the West Bank, including by Hamas members, and to prevent attacks on Israel.

U.N. human rights monitors studied 80 cases in-depth among 505 documented deaths of Palestinians in the West Bank since the Oct. 7 incursion, in which Israel said about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 were abducted.

The cases study showed "consistent violations of international human rights law on the use of force by the ISF (Israeli security forces) through unnecessary and disproportionate use of lethal force and an increase in apparently planned targeted killings," Türk said.

'Pervasive impunity'

Some of the Palestinians killed in the West Bank were children armed with stones or firecrackers and "clearly did not represent an imminent threat to life," it added.

It did not say how many Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank by settlers, and how many by Israeli forces.

The high number of those who died after being shot in the upper part of the body, along with the denial of medical assistance to the injured, suggested an intent to kill, it said.

"Pervasive impunity for such crimes has been commonplace for far too long in the occupied West Bank. Such impunity has created an enabling environment for more and more unlawful killings by the ISF," Türk said.

While Hamas runs Gaza, the Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank.

Settler violence is a source of growing concern among Israel's Western allies. Several countries, including the United States, have imposed sanctions on violent settlers and urged Israel to do more to stop the violence.