The Israelis have killed at least 502 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since October 7th.
The latest killings occurred on Thursday, when three young men – Mohamed Youssef Nasr Allah, 27, Ayman Ahmed Mubarak, 26, and Hossam Emad Deabes, 22 – were killed by Israeli forces attacking Tulkarm.
More than 230 Palestinians were killed during Israeli attacks, while at least 20 were reportedly killed by settlers from illegal settlements and outposts.
October 7th was the date of the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel and the start of Israel’s relentless war in Gaza, which has killed more than 35,000 people and injured more than 70,000, with around 10,000 missing. presumably dead under the rubble of the destroyed Strip.
The violence had repercussions on the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, already tense after an Israeli campaign of military attacks and an increase in settler violence.
According to United Nations data, 154 Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank in 2022, after Israel began almost daily attacks in the territory.
One of those killed was Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed by an Israeli sniper in Jenin in May 2022 while covering an Israeli attack there.
A far-right government led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took power in late 2022 and further intensified the violence.
Before October 7, at least 199 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank in 2023.
Israeli attacks, both before and after October 7, ostensibly targeted Palestinian armed groups in the West Bank, part of a policy that Israel labels “mowing the grass” – eradicating any threat from Palestinian fighters before they could grow stronger.
Israel reportedly focused on ensuring that new resistance groups without direct links to pre-established organizations such as Fatah or Hamas could not become nodes of armed power.
Since October 7, Israel has used cover of the war in Gaza to intensify its attacks in the occupied West Bank and has become more brazen in using air power, such as helicopters and drones, to kill Palestinians. Israeli forces killed many unarmed Palestinians.
“Israeli forces [since October 7] unleashed a brutal wave of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, committing unlawful killings, including using unnecessary or disproportionate lethal force during protests and detention operations, and denying medical assistance to the injured,” Amnesty International said in February.
The UN told Israel to stop “illegal killings” in the occupied West Bank in December, with the head of the UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territories telling Al Jazeera at the time that the lack of accountability and even incitement by by Israeli authorities, led to an increase in violence by Israeli forces and Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.
“I think it is extremely important to highlight: where there is impunity, violations will continue to happen,” said Ajith Sunghay.
The Israeli settler movement seeks to illegally populate the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem – and in some cases, Gaza – with Jewish settlers, at the expense of Palestinians.
With representatives of the movement now sitting at the highest levels of the Israeli government, many settlers appear to have used October 7th as a pretext to intensify attacks against Palestinians, betting that the Israeli government would look the other way.
Israeli settlers have repeatedly invaded Palestinian towns and villages and attacked residents, forcing them to leave in some cases.
Last month, after one such round of settler violence, Palestinians living near Ramallah expressed their fear to Al Jazeera.
“We are terrified… Most people are trying to leave the city or [go to] other countries if they have other citizenships,” said a resident at the time.
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank fear they could eventually face the same intensity of attacks and violence that Gaza has faced.
The occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has been under continuous illegal Israeli occupation since June 1967. Its status as occupied territory has been affirmed by the International Court of Justice and, with the exception of East Jerusalem, by the Israeli Supreme Court.
UN decisions dating back to 1979 stipulate that the establishment of any Israeli settlement in the territory is illegal.
But Israel has built more than 140 settlements on Palestinian land, housing hundreds of thousands of Israelis. The settlements restrict entry to Palestinians, including those who own the land on which they were built.
A separate network of roads was also built for Jewish settlers – roads that Palestinians are often unable to use.
Israeli policy in the West Bank has therefore been described as “apartheid” by Palestinians and human rights defenders around the world.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
