West bank: The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, announced that Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank has reached unprecedented levels. In a recent statement, Lazzarini described the situation as "a silent war that has not received adequate coverage."
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, the escalation of violence has been particularly severe since October 2023, with over 1,000 Palestinians killed, nearly a quarter of whom were children. These incidents have been exacerbated by the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7, 2023. The Israeli army and settlers have intensified their actions in the West Bank, leading to killings, house demolitions, displacement of Palestinians, and settlement expansion.
Over the past two years, this escalation has resulted in the deaths of 1,110 Palestinians and injuries to approximately 11,500 others. More than 21,000 individuals have been arrested during this period. Lazzarini highlighted that Israeli settler attacks continue without interruption, leading to the intimidation and displacement of Palestinian communities and the destruction of their livelihoods.
Currently, approximately 770,000 Israeli settlers live in hundreds of settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank, including 250,000 in East Jerusalem. These settlers reportedly carry out daily attacks against Palestinian citizens, aiming to forcibly displace them. Lazzarini emphasized that tens of thousands of people remain displaced a year after Israel launched Operation Iron Wall, the largest displacement operation since 1967.
Lazzarini further noted that while global attention has been focused on events in Gaza, the situation in the West Bank has seen a blatant disregard for international humanitarian law. This lack of attention and accountability has allowed the violence and displacement to persist unchecked.
