GENEVA: The United Nations (UN) has raised urgent concerns about the deteriorating situation in the West Bank, highlighting a significant escalation in violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers against innocent Palestinian civilians.
The UN’s human rights office revealed that between October 7 and Thursday, 132 Palestinians, including 41 children, were killed in the West Bank.
While much international attention has been focused on the Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, the situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has reached alarming levels, according to UN spokeswoman Elizabeth Throssell. She emphasized the growing and multi-layered human rights violations against Palestinians in the region, pointing out that Israeli forces were increasingly resorting to military tactics and weapons during law enforcement operations. Throssell highlighted a particular operation involving air strikes on the Jenin refugee camp.
Israeli Settlers’ Violence Against Palestinians in West Bank
Settler violence, which was already at record levels, has seen a dramatic increase, averaging seven attacks per day, with firearms used in over a third of these incidents. Disturbingly, many of these attacks involved Israeli soldiers accompanying the settlers. Throssell expressed concerns about the near-total impunity for settler violence and raised alarm over reports suggesting that armed settlers were acting with the collaboration and acquiescence of Israeli forces and authorities.
As the occupying power, Israel is obligated to ensure the safety and protection of the occupied Palestinian population. Throssell underscored the forced displacement of entire communities due to the escalating violence, revealing that nearly 1,000 Palestinians from at least 15 herding communities had been driven from their homes since October 7.
Despite the daily involvement of hundreds of settlers in violent activities, Israeli forces have reportedly arrested only two settlers for assaulting Palestinians and causing the death of one Palestinian farmer since October 7. Meanwhile, Israeli forces have arrested almost 2,000 Palestinians, and two of them have died in custody.
