WEST BANK, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Israeli settler attacks in the occupied West Bank reached an unprecedented level of escalation in October, with the number of attacks resulting in Palestinian casualties or property damage surpassing all monthly totals recorded since the UN started documenting such incidents in 2006.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) explained in its report released on Saturday that it documented 397 settler attacks between October 1 and October 26, marking a record figure not previously recorded in a single month since it began monitoring such incidents. The tally does not include the final five days of October.
“Between 20 and 26 October, 62 settler attacks resulting in casualties or property damage were documented across 49 West Bank communities, including 38 olive-harvest-related attacks,” OCHA added.
“During the reporting period, 57 Palestinians, including nine children, were injured across the West Bank, including east Jerusalem: 23 by settlers and 34 by Israeli forces. Of the total, 27 (47 per cent) were injured by Israeli forces or settlers in the context of settler attacks, including 18 during olive-harvest-related incidents. A total of 62 settler attacks resulting in casualties or property damage were recorded across 49 communities,” OCHA said.
“Displacement and movement restrictions remained major concerns. In Khirbet Ras al Ahmar, Tubas Governorate, 24 Palestinian herding families comprising approximately 94 people, including 40 children, were displaced amid increasing access restrictions and repeated settler attacks and intimidation,” according to its report.
