WEST BANK, (The Palestine Information Centre)Violence from Israeli settlers has displaced over 1,100 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2022, according to a UN report released Monday.
The report documented about three settler-related incidents each day in the West Bank, the highest daily average since the UN began documenting the trend in 2006. The violence has completely emptied out five Palestinian communities. Six more have seen half their inhabitants leave, and seven have seen a quarter flee, the report said.
During the same period, 1,614 settler-related incidents resulted in Palestinian casualties or property damage, an average of 80 incidents per month, the highest volume ever documented by the UN since its tracking began in 2006.
As Israeli settlements expand under the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinians say the violence from Israeli settlers has reached a fever pitch.
This, together with Palestinians’ inability to obtain approvals to build, demolitions, evictions, movement restrictions, and ongoing settlement expansion, creates a coercive environment that contributes to displacement that may amount to forcible transfer, a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The report said Palestinian herders require support for their livelihoods, including to feed and protect their herds, and humanitarian assistance to address their basic needs for shelter, food, water, education, and health care. The assessment will be used to inform ongoing and future humanitarian operations that address these needs.
