A new report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory has revealed that the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank and Israel in 2023 has surpassed the total number of fatalities in 2022, which was already the highest since 2005.
According to the bi-weekly Protection of Civilians report, between 25 July and 10 August, Israeli forces killed 13 Palestinians in the West Bank, including three children, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank and Israel since the beginning of the year to 167. In comparison, 155 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank and Israel in all of 2022.
The report also said that an Israeli settler shot and killed a Palestinian man and injured two others during a settler attack in Burqa village, near Ramallah, on 4 August, raising the number of Palestinians killed by settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the beginning of 2023 to seven.
The UN report documented that 276 Palestinians, including at least 60 children, were injured by Israeli forces across the West Bank, including nine people by live ammunition, between July 25 and August 7. It said that since the beginning of the year, a total of 683 Palestinians were injured with live ammunition by Israeli forces in the West Bank, which is more than double the equivalent period in 2022, which amounted to 307.
The report also recorded a surge in settler-related incidents resulting in Palestinian casualties, property damage, or both. In the first six months of 2023, the UN recorded 591 such incidents, a 39 percent increase in the monthly average when compared with 2022, during which the highest number of settler-related incidents since the UN began recording such data in 2006 was reported.
The report added that six Palestinians, including one child, were injured by Israeli settlers, who also damaged Palestinian property in another 14 instances across the West Bank between July 25 and August 7.
The UN report also highlighted that the Israeli occupation authorities demolished, confiscated, or forced people to demolish 56 structures in East Jerusalem and Area C of the West Bank, including six homes, citing the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible to obtain. As a result, 23 Palestinians, including 12 children, were displaced, and the livelihoods of more than 3,500 others were affected.
The report said that six of the affected structures were provided by donors in response to a previous demolition in al-Zaayyem Bedouin community in the Jerusalem governorate, during which a total of 35 structures were demolished in a single incident.
The report also said that 53 of the affected structures were demolished in Area C, including the infrastructure of a public park serving the community of al Mughayyir in the Ramallah governorate. The remaining three structures were demolished in East Jerusalem, resulting in the displacement of four households, comprising 16 people, including seven children. All of the demolished structures in East Jerusalem were destroyed by their owners to avoid paying fines to the Israeli authorities.
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