Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the Israeli regime's violence and violation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories amount to apartheid. Ban said Thursday after his three-day visit to the West Asian region that he "saw signs, through the expansion of West Bank Jewish settlements and tougher restrictions against Palestinians, that an apartheid system was taking root." .

Drawing an analogy between what he encountered during his journey and what he faced while heading the world body from 2007 to 2016, Ban said: “I think the situation has gotten worse. I'm just thinking that, as many say, this could constitute apartheid." The former UN chief also expressed concern that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is "fading" amid a spike in deadly violence in the occupied West Bank.