IOF increasingly killing, injuring children in West Bank since Oct. 7
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The number of Palestinian children killed by live ammunition fired by Israeli forces has almost tripled since 7 October compared with the preceding 10 months, according to an OCHA report.
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Mourners comfort each other after bidding goodbye to the body of Palestinian Rasheed Mahmoud Sadah, 23, who was killed by Israeli settlers in Jit, near Qalqilya, on August 16, 2024. (AP)
"Israel's" use of live fire to murder and wound Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank has grown considerably since the start of the deadly assault on Gaza 10 months ago, a UN report revealed.
In its Humanitarian Situation Update on the West Bank, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced on Wednesday that 115 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli live ammunition in the occupied territory since October 7.
In comparison, the number of children killed by Israeli live fire in the West Bank in the preceding ten months up to October stood at 39, according to the report, which means that the killings since October 7 have tripled.
Furthermore, the number of Palestinian children injured by Israeli live fire in the occupied territories doubled throughout the reporting period, with 1,411 children wounded by bullets since October 7, up from 615 in the previous ten months.
The OCHA has also documented 1,250 Israeli settlers' attacks on Palestinians since October, including around 120 settler assaults that resulted in Palestinian fatalities and injuries.
According to a UN investigation, on August 12, Israeli settlers armed with knives abducted two 15-year-old Palestinian shepherds and dragged them into a recently formed Israeli outpost colony near Khallet an-Nahla, where they "assaulted the boys, broke their legs, and urinated on them" before driving them to an open area where they abandoned them.
World condemns 'horrific', 'unacceptable' Qalqilya settlers aggression
The US, UK, France, and Germany, as well as the UN and the EU Foreign Policy chief, have condemned the "unacceptable" violence by Israeli settlers in Qalqilya.
A Palestinian youth was killed and another was critically injured on Thursday evening during an attack by Israeli settlers on the village of Jit, east of Qalqilya, in the occupied West Bank, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported.
The settlers also set fire to several Palestinian homes and vehicles in Jit. According to local sources, Israeli occupation forces blocked Palestinian Civil Defense teams from reaching the burning homes and vehicles to extinguish the flames.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called the attack "organized state terrorism," describing the settlers' rampage as a serious escalation in ongoing crimes against Palestinians. It demanded "deterrent sanctions against the racist colonial system, the dismantling of terrorist settler gangs, and the prosecution of their members."
"استشهاد الشاب رشيد عبد القادر (23 عامًا) برصاص المستوطنين في بلدة جيت شرق قلقيلية بعد اقتحام المستوطنين للبلدة" 👇 #فلسطين #الميادين pic.twitter.com/1WRoM3YqCE
— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) August 15, 2024
The United Nations condemned the deadly Israeli settler attack, saying that such attacks are "by and large" being carried out with impunity.
UN human rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said at a news conference that some Israeli security forces are "standing by as attacks take place," describing how in some cases, weapons are being provided to settlers.
"So there is clearly a state responsibility in this regard," she expressed, adding that the violence is not an isolated attack but rather "the direct consequence of Israel's policy of settlement in the West Bank," she added.
Shamdasani indicated that the "crux of the matter" was the "impunity that the perpetrators of such grave violations have been enjoying," detailing how "there have been some, very few, investigations -- but even in those cases, most of the times, these do not conclude with justice for the victims and for the perpetrators."
These latest incidents are part of a broader escalation of violence in the West Bank, which has seen an increase in confrontations since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
Towns and cities across the West Bank have been subjected to daily incursions by settlers and occupation forces, often resulting in widespread arrests, as well as deaths and injuries.
At least 606 Palestinians have been killed and about 5,400 others have been wounded at the hands of the Israeli occupation forces and Israeli settlers in various cities and camps of the West Bank since the start of the war on Gaza on October 7.
#بالفيديو | مستوطنون يحرقون مركبة لفلسطيني خلال هجوم على قرية جيت شرق #قلقيلية.#الميادين #فلسطين pic.twitter.com/paUuauJiA8
— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) August 15, 2024
