The UN Human Rights Office has described the situation in the occupied West Bank as “alarming,” saying Israeli forces were increasingly using military tactics and weapons in law enforcement operations there.
Spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Liz Throssell, said while much attention has been focused on Hamas attacks inside Israel and the escalation of hostilities in Gaza since the 7th of October, the situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is alarming and urgent.”
She claimed that since the October 7 attack, at least 132 Palestinians, including 41 children, have been killed in the West Bank, 124 by Israeli forces and eight by Israeli settlers.
Since the October 7 attack, the Israeli military has reported a significant increase in operations in the West Bank, making approximately 1,260 arrests.
Throssell stated that Israeli settler violence against Palestinian residents had “escalated dramatically” and was already at record levels.
Ammar Al-Dwaik, Director General of the Independent Commission of Human Rights of Palestine in Ramallah, seat of the limited Palestinian self-rule authority in the West Bank, said that many people were afraid to venture far from their homes.
