'Israel' using 'war-like' tactics on Palestinians in West Bank: UN
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Since the start of the month, approximately 600 olive trees have been burned, vandalized, or stolen by settlers.
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Extremist Israeli Jewish settlers have uprooted 40 fruitful olive trees in the village of Qasra in the outskirts of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus. (@AbujomaaGaza)
The United Nations Humanitarian Office (OCHA) accused "Israel" on Friday of using "war-like" tactics against Palestinians in the West Bank, citing killings by Israeli soldiers and attacks on Palestinian olive groves by settlers.
OCHA reported 32 attacks by settlers this month, including the killing of a woman in Jenin. These attacks are impacting the livelihoods of Palestinians, particularly due to the destruction of their olive trees, a key source of income.
"It is, frankly, very concerning that it's not only attacks on people, but it's attacks on their olive groves as well," OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said at a Geneva press briefing. "The olive harvest is an economic lifeline for tens of thousands of Palestinian families in the West Bank," he added, adding that UN agencies were looking to see how they could assist them.
The agency reported that since the start of the month, approximately 600 olive trees have been burned, vandalized, or stolen by settlers. A report included an image of a Palestinian man standing beside an olive tree stump with its branches cut off.
The number of #Palestinians killed in the #WestBank since 7 Oct 2023 rises to more than 700.
— OCHA oPt (Palestine) (@ochaopt) October 17, 2024
This month, Israeli settlers sawed off, burnt or otherwise vandalized ~600 mainly olive trees and saplings in ~15 communities.
Read more: https://t.co/fPMxhRljBg pic.twitter.com/RANpwpTdJk
Settler violence out of hand
Violence in the West Bank has intensified since the start of the war on Gaza. Several countries, including the US, have imposed sanctions on extremist groups as a result of the violence.
According to OCHA, within the span of a mere six days, between October 8-14, Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians in the West Bank, including one child.
"Israeli forces have been using lethal, war-like tactics in the West Bank, raising serious concerns over excessive use of force and deepening people's humanitarian needs," Laerke said.
He noted that Israeli forces claimed most of those killed were involved in attacks against Israelis, a pretext commonly used to justify excessive use of force and conceal the true nature of the killings.
Read more: UN to demand 'Israel' end 'unlawful' occupation within 12 months
Earlier this month, the World Food Programme reported that violence and the spillover from the Gaza war had nearly doubled the number of people experiencing food insecurity in the West Bank, raising the total to 600,000 individuals.
The martyrdom of Hanan
The latest martyrdom of a Palestinian farmer occurred on Thursday, with the murder of a 59-year-old Palestinian woman, Hanan Abdel Rahman Abu Salama, who was shot and killed by Israeli forces while attending to her family’s olive grove in the village of Faqoua, near Jenin.
The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed her martyrdom, stating she was killed by Israeli occupation forces' gunfire.
According to her son, Faris Abu Salama, the family had permission from Israeli forces to harvest their olives but were shot at by soldiers stationed on a nearby separation wall.
"We were much further than the minimum distance from the wall, but they started shooting randomly," Faris said.
Despite attempts by medical teams to save her, Abu Salama succumbed to her injuries.
♦️تشييع جثمان الشهيدة حنان أبو سلامة بعد ارتقائها برصاص قوات الاحتلال خلال قطفها الزيتون مع عائلتها في بلدة #فقوعة المحاذية لجدار الفصل العنصري. pic.twitter.com/nMA60Z597V
— قدس فيد (@quds_feed) October 17, 2024
