Attacks against Palestinians intensify in occupied West Bank, says UN rights office
World
"Israeli settlers and security forces have intensified their killings, attacks and harassment"
GENEVA (Reuters) – There has been an increase in killings of and attacks against Palestinians by settlers and security forces in the occupied West Bank in recent weeks, the United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday.
"Israeli settlers and security forces have intensified their killings, attacks and harassment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in the past weeks," Thameen Al-Kheetan, a spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHCR), told reporters in Geneva.
About 30,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced in the north of the occupied West Bank since the Israeli military launched its "Iron Wall" operation.
It is contributing to the ongoing consolidation of annexation of the West Bank, in violation of international law, the OHCHR said.
In June, the UN recorded the highest monthly count of Palestinians injured in over two decades in the West Bank.
Since January there have been 757 settler attacks on Palestinians or their properties, which is a 13% increase on the same period last year, OHCHR said.
At least 964 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023, by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Fifty-three Israelis have been killed in the West Bank and in Israel in reported attacks by Palestinians or in armed clashes, the office added.
875 PALESTINIANS KILLED NEAR AID SITES
The UN rights office said it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks at aid points in Gaza run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and convoys run by other relief groups, including the United Nations.
The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, while the remaining 201 were killed on the routes of other aid convoys.
The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a UN-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the allegation.
The GHF has repeatedly denied incidents have occurred on its sites and accused the UN of misinformation, which it denies.
