More than 820 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have been
displaced amid settler violence and increased movement
restrictions since the Hamas terror attacks of 7 October and the
start of Israel’s assault on Gaza, the UN relief wing said on
Wednesday.
Israeli settler violence has increased significantly, from an
already high average of three incidents per day in 2023 to seven
a day now, according to the UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCA).
During this period, OCHA recorded 171
settler attacks against Palestinians, resulting in 26 different
casualty incidents, damage to 115 Palestinian properties, and
some 30 reported incidents of both property damage and
casualties.
Cases of harassment, trespass and intimidation are not included
in the reporting, although they too increase the pressure on
Palestinians to leave their land, the Office noted.
An increasing number of Israeli settlers have moved onto West
Bank land, occupied by Israel since 1967, undermining a potential
two-State solution to the long running conflict, where two States
live peacefully side by side.
Access restrictions
Access restrictions, typically imposed by the Israeli
authorities, have also intensified throughout the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem. These are particularly severe in areas
near Israeli settlements and in the so-called “Seam Zone”; the
Palestinian area isolated by Israel’s 712-kilometre-long barrier
in the West Bank.
Settlers too have imposed movement restrictions, OCHA said,
blocking access roads to Palestinian communities, limiting their
access to essential services and livelihoods. In some cases,
settlers have also damaged water resources which herding
communities rely on.
Humanitarian assistance services, including health and education,
has also had to stop since the restrictions intensified, OCHA
added.
Use of firearms
The Office also noted the use of firearms to intimidate
Palestinians, with more than one in every three settler-related
incidents since 7 October involving settlers using firearms to
threaten Palestinians, including by opening fire.
On 12 October, eight households, comprising 51 people, were
displaced from the Shihda WaHamlan herding community in Nablus in
northern West Bank, after settlers threatened them at gunpoint,
saying they would kill them and set their tents on fire during
the night, according to OCHA.
‘Active support’ of Israeli forces
It added that in almost half the cases, Israeli security forces
“accompanied or actively supported” the attackers.
Many of the latter incidents were followed by confrontations
between Israeli forces and Palestinians, where three Palestinians
were killed, and dozens injured. Eight Palestinians were killed
by settlers directly, as of the end of October, the Office noted.
Damage or destruction was caused to 24 residential structures, 40
structures used for farming, 67 vehicles and more than 400 trees
and saplings.
