Settler Violence Against Palestinians in the West Bank is Rising

Damaged properties last week at the West Bank village of Wadi al-Siq. Representatives of a community of 200 Bedouin herders living there said that Jewish settlers, accompanied by police officers and Israeli soldiers, had attacked the village on Oct. 12.
Credit...Thomas Coex/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By Maria Abi-Habib and Rami Nazzal

Maria Abi-Habib reported from London, and Rami Nazzal from Ramallah
Attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are surging, with at least 115 killed, more than 2,000 injured and nearly 1,000 others forcibly displaced from their homes because of violence and intimidation by Israeli forces and settlers since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, according the United Nations.

Among the dead are 33 children, according to an update on Sunday from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which has been tracking the conflicts.
Confrontations in the West Bank have been a longstanding issue, but the violence has intensified over the last three weeks, more than doubling to seven incidents a day, on average, compared with three incidents a day since the start of 2023, according to the U.N.

“We’ve observed more incidents where armed settlers have threatened Palestinians,” Andrea De Domenico, the head of the U.N. humanitarian affairs office, told The New York Times. “In several areas, Palestinians have been ordered to leave under the threat of firearms.”

An ever-growing number of Israeli communities have taken root in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967. The settlements cut into land Palestinians have title to and also undermine the territory needed for any two-state solution, fanning tensions in the region. They also draw many residents who consider the West Bank to be Jewish by birthright.

In the clashes since Oct. 7, almost half have involved “Israeli forces accompanying or actively supporting Israeli settlers while carrying out the attacks,” according to the U.N. report.
The Israeli military declined to comment.

In the days after the Oct. 7 attacks, Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, announced that his ministry was purchasing 10,000 rifles in order to arm civilians, specifying among the intended recipients those in West Bank settlements.

Much of the violence in the territory has been directed at herders and Bedouin communities. The U.N. said those Palestinians have faced physical violence and intimidation and also been denied access to their lands, a particular hardship given that many are farmers.

The Palestinian hamlet of Khirbet al-Ratheem, in the hills of Hebron, is now completely emptied of its population of about 50 people. Israeli settlers from a nearby outpost began to close roads leading to the hamlet on Oct. 14, according to Palestinians who lived there.

On the night of Oct. 14, “they returned to attack us, pointing their guns at us while forcing us all into one room,” said Amir Abdullah Hamdan al-Maharak, a 50-year-old farmer who has seven children.
Mr. al-Maharak said that the settlers dragged and shoved his elderly father around the family’s home, and then used their knives to cut through the family’s water barrels and slash the pipes for their propane canisters.

Fearing for their lives, he and his family decided to take their sheep and flee.

SWAHILI

Uvunjaji wa Amani wa Walowezi Dhidi ya Wapalestina West Bank Unaongezeka

 

Na Maria Abi-Habib na Rami Nazzal

Mashambulizi dhidi ya Wapalestina huko West Bank unaofanywa na Israel unazidii kuongezeka, na takribani watu 115 wameuawa, zaidi ya watu 2,000 wamejeruhiwa na takribani watu 1,000 wamelazimishwa kuhama makazi yao kutokana na vurugu na vitisho kutoka kwa vikosi vya Israeli na walowezi tangu litokee shambulio la Hamas mnamo Oktoba 7, hii ni kulingana na taarifa ya Umoja wa Mataifa.

Miongoni mwa waliokufa ni watoto 33, kulingana na taarifa iliyotolewa Jumapili kutoka Ofisi ya Umoja wa Mataifa ya Ushirikiano wa Masuala ya Kibinadamu, ambayo imekuwa ikifuatilia migogoro hiyo.

Mgogoro West Bank umekuwepo kwa muda mrefu, lakini vurugu zimeongezeka katika wiki tatu zilizopita, zikiongezeka mara mbili zaidi na kufikia hadi matukio saba kwa siku ikilinganishwa na matukio matatu kwa siku tangu mwanzoni mwa mwaka 2023, taarifa ya Umoja wa Mataifa.

 

"Tumeona matukio zaidi ambapo walowezi wenye silaha wametishia Wapalestina," Andrea De Domenico, mkuu wa ofisi ya masuala ya kibinadamu ya Umoja wa Mataifa, aliiambia The New York Times. "Kwenye maeneo kadhaa, Wapalestina wameagizwa kuondoka chini ya vitisho kwa kutumia silaha."

 

Idadi kubwa ya wayahudi kutoka Israel imeongezeka West Bank, ambapo Israel imechukua na kukalia eneo hilo tangu mwaka 1967. Makazi hayo yanaikata ardhi ambayo Wapalestina wanaimiliki kisheria na pia yanatishia mwenendo wa eneo linalofanyiwa Suluhu kwa nchi hizo mbili. Kutimuliwa kwa watu na wayahudi kuweka makazi yao West Bank kunafanya wengine kudhani eneo hilo ni la urithi kwao.

Katika mapambano tangu Oktoba 7, karibu nusu yao walihusika "vikosi vya Israeli vikifuatana au kusaidia kikamilifu na walowezi wa Israeli kwa pamoja wametekeleza mashambulizi," kulingana na ripoti ya Umoja wa Mataifa ambapo Jeshi la Israeli lilikataa kutoa maoni.

Katika siku chache baada ya mashambulizi ya Oktoba 7, Waziri wa Usalama wa Taifa wa Israel, Itamar Ben-Gvir, alitangaza kuwa wizara yake ilinunua bunduki 10,000 ili kuwapa raia silaha, akibainisha miongoni mwa wapokeaji wa silaha hizo ni wakazi wa eneo la West Bank.

Sehemu kubwa ya vurugu katika eneo hilo imeelekezwa kwa wafugaji na jamii za Bedouin. Umoja wa Mataifa ulisema kwamba Wapalestina hao wamekumbana na vurugu za kimwili na vitisho na pia wamezuiliwa kufikia mashamba yao, ambapo wengi wao ni wakulima.

Kijiji cha Kipalestina cha Khirbet al-Ratheem, katika milima ya Hebron, kimeachwa kabisa na watu wake takriban 50. Walowezi wa Israeli kutoka kituo cha karibu walitumia kufunga barabara zinazoongoza kijijini mnamo Oktoba 14, kulingana na Wapalestina waliokuwa wakiishi hapo.

 

Usiku wa Oktoba 14, "walirudi kutushambulia, wakituelekezea bunduki zao huku wakitulazimisha sote kuingia chumba kimoja," alisema Amir Abdullah Hamdan al-Maharak, mkulima mwenye umri wa miaka 50 aliye na watoto saba.

 

Bwana al-Maharak alisema kuwa walowezi walimvuta na kumshinikiza baba yake mzee ndani ya nyumba ya familia yao, na kisha kutumia visu vyao kuchana mapipa ya maji ya familia na kuharibu bomba lao la gesi.

Wakiogopa maisha yao, yeye na familia yake waliamua kuondoa kondoo wao na kukimbia.