Israeli Forces and Settlers Injure at Least 19 Palestinians Across the West Bank

Israeli Forces and Settlers Injure at Least 19 Palestinians Across the West Bank Reuters

Israeli military raids and settler attacks across the occupied West Bank have injured at least 19 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials and local media reports.

Israeli forces shot and injured three Palestinians who attempted to enter occupied East Jerusalem near the separation wall in ar-Ram, the Jerusalem Governorate said on Saturday.

The governorate said the incident was part of near-daily attacks against Palestinian workers barred from employment in Israel since the war on Gaza began in October 2023.

In the Tubas Governorate in the northern West Bank, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said its crews treated at least 11 Palestinians, including four children, for tear gas inhalation during Israeli army raids.

In Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, an elderly man was beaten by armed settlers. Israeli forces subsequently raided his home, damaged its contents and confiscated his family's phones, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The Palestine Red Crescent also reported that two young men were hospitalised after being beaten by settlers in Arrabeh, south of Jenin. A 15-year-old boy was hospitalised following a severe beating by settlers in Tammun, in Tubas province, where another child was also injured in a separate settler assault.

In attacks on Friday, the Israeli army and settlers killed two Palestinians in Hebron and Jenin.

In Qusra, south of Nablus, the Hassan and Abu Rida families have remained besieged in their homes for a 14th consecutive day by settlers, with Israeli forces maintaining a closed military zone around the site. Residents accuse the army of inaction amounting to complicity in the families' possible forced displacement.

The Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said Israeli settlers now number roughly 780,000 across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, living across 192 settlements and 400 outposts. Settlers now control 71 percent of Area C and 91 percent of the Jordan Valley, the commission said.

The United Nations humanitarian affairs office recorded more than 1,330 settler-related attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank between January and late July, averaging roughly six per day. The office described this as the fastest pace since it began systematic tracking two decades ago.

More than 2,300 Palestinians have been forced from their homes so far this year due to settler violence or the restrictions accompanying it, according to UN figures.

A UN-appointed commission of inquiry has found that Israeli authorities repeatedly failed to prevent foreseeable settler attacks and, in some cases, directly enabled them through army protection and the provision of weapons and funding.