UN rights chief Volker Turk has said he was ringing the loudest possible alarm bell over the “potentially explosive” situation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

“I am deeply concerned about the intensification of violence and severe discrimination against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” Turk told a briefing of UN member states.

“In my view, this creates a potentially explosive situation, and I want to be clear: we are well beyond the level of early warning. I am ringing the loudest possible alarm bell about the occupied West Bank,” he said.