OIC:1606 Attacks by Settlers in the West Bank

The number of settler attacks on the cities and villages of the West Bank from October 7, 2023, to June 2024 reached 1606 attacks, reaching its peak in October with 343 attacks. Subsequent months saw 172 attacks in November and 127 in December. The number decreased in January to 99 attacks. The attacks rose again in February, reaching 136 attacks, in March 149, and in April 200 attacks, and the attacks in May reached its peak since October with 225 attacks, and in June, the attacks reached 155.

These attacks included killing and beating Palestinians, seizing their lands and properties, shooting and intimidating them, burning their crops, trees, and homes, breaking the branches of fruit trees and stealing their fruits, preventing Palestinians from harvesting their crops, destroying water pipes and electricity generators, performing Talmudic rituals in Mosques, writing racist phrases on Palestinian homes, throwing stones at them, and closing roads. The settlers were also stealing chickens and livestock, smashing car windows, and damaging their wheels, which reflects extremely degenerate criminal behavior.

On November 24, 2023, a settler’s car ran over a young Palestinian man with special needs, East of the town of Yatta in Hebron, killing him. On June 8, 2024, settlers burned the wheat crop and trees and olive trees in the village of Beit Dajan, then they threw stones at Civil Defense personnel to prevent them from extinguishing the fire. The guard of the Yitzhar settlement, called Yaqoub, also sneaked into an area between the villages of Madama and Asira al-Qibliya in Nablus to steal a scooter in front of a house, and other settlers stole a teapot in Deir Abu Mishal.

The villages of Hebron were the most vulnerable to settler attacks, as they accounted for 25% of the total attacks mentioned with 395 attacks, while the villages of Nablus were exposed to 24%, with 391 attacks.

On the other hand, the OIC’s Observatory recorded for the period between June 25 and July 1, 2024, the murdering of 246 Palestinians and 782 injuries, most of them in the Gaza Strip. It also noted the murdering of 38,431 Palestinians from October 7, 2023, until June 30, 2024.

In the humanitarian field, the Norwegian Refugee Council warned of a famine in the central and Southern Gaza Strip, similar to the North, while the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said, “Waste and sewage are still accumulating throughout Gaza, as high temperatures and a lack of clean water contribute to accelerating the spread of diseases.”

In the West Bank and al-Quds, the OIC’s Observatory noted that the same category of crimes was repeated several times by the Israeli forces, which confirms that they were committed systematically and according to timetables, as they demolished 14 houses and 11 residential tents in Jericho, while they seized the vegetable market in the old town of the city of Hebron. Israel also confiscated and burned 8 vehicles, including a truck, two bulldozers, a cement mixer, a private car, and others.

The settlers burned many agricultural lands in Nablus and uprooted the stands of 200 grape trees. Their attacks last week amounted to 30 attacks among the total violations, which amounted to 1,649 violations over a period of 7 days.