WB attacks on Palestinians soar by 30% during Israeli campaign

Israel’s ongoing military campaign in the West Bank has led to a 30 percent surge in attacks on Palestinians in the occupied territory, intensifying fears of further destabilisation in the region amid a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza. 

The West Bank has seen a rise in attacks by Israeli soldiers and illegal settlers since the beginning of this year, significantly higher than last year, according to the Hebrew-language newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth on Wednesday.

This has resulted in violent acts of abuse, physical beatings, arson attacks on homes and vehicles, and prolonged checkpoint delays leaving pedestrians stranded. 

Citing unnamed military sources, the report emphasised the rise in “nationalist crime incidents”, as Israeli military sources warned of a rise in attacks on West Bank Palestinians without oversight or accountability. 

Victims filing complaints against their attackers often encounter various hurdles – unless there is public video evidence – prompting the Israeli army to fully enforce restrictions on social media use and photographing military bases to avoid the risk of liability. 

Military officials claim that the Israeli army investigates each incident. 

On Wednesday, Israeli news outlet Haaretz released a report detailing the alleged attacks endured by two Palestinian brothers in the West Bank at the hands of Israeli soldiers, who were spat on, verbally abused, and sexually assaulted.

Haaretz reported that when one of the brothers filed a complaint with the Israeli military police, they were met with laughter.

A lawyer representing the brothers also reportedly approached the military to protest their treatment, only to be told that the suspects were “young soldiers who couldn’t control themselves.”

The rise in attacks by Israeli settlers and soldiers follows US President Donald Trump’s signing of an order earlier this year to lift US sanctions on extremist settlers in the occupied West Bank. 

The former administration under Joe Biden had labelled them as part of the “extremist settlement movement”.

In January, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Palestine voiced concern over the “wave of renewed violence perpetrated by settlers and Israeli security forces in the Occupied West Bank, coinciding with the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement”.

The Israeli military has been carrying out an extensive offensive across several areas of the West Bank since 21 January, just two days after a ceasefire took effect in the Gaza Strip, effectively bringing 15 months of conflict to a halt. 

The Israeli military operation, named “Iron Wall”, has led to the deaths of dozens of Palestinians, including children, as reported by the UN.

Around 40,000 Palestinians have also been displaced from areas where the military has been active. 

Violence in the West Bank, which has been under Israeli occupation since 1967, has intensified since the beginning of the Gaza conflict on 7 October 2023. 

Since then, at least 910 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.