Children walk through partially destroyed streets in Jenin in the West Bank. UN Human Rights Office: More than 500 Palestinians killed in West Bank in 8 months Peace and security
The number of Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank since October 7 has exceeded 500, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Tuesday. According to him, lethal methods are used by Israeli forces in cases where this is not necessary.
Recent deaths include 16-year-old Ahmed Ashraf Hamidat and 17-year-old Mohammed Musa Al Bitar, who were shot “from a distance of about 70 meters as they ran away after throwing stones and/or Molotov cocktails towards [Israeli ] military post,” the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said in a statement.
The deaths of the teenagers, along with the killing of four more Palestinians by the Israeli army on Monday, brought the death toll to 505 since Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel sparked the Gaza war, OHCHR said.
During the same period, 24 Israelis, including eight staff Israeli security forces have been killed in the West Bank and Israel as a result of clashes or suspected attacks by Palestinians.
Unprecedented bloodshed
“As if the tragic events in Israel and then Gaza over the past eight months were not enough, the population of the occupied West Bank is also being subjected to unprecedented bloodshed day after day. It is incomprehensible that so many lives were taken in such a senseless manner,” said the High Commissioner.
“Killing, destruction and large-scale violations of human rights are unacceptable and must stop immediately,” – Turk added. According to him, Israel must not only accept the rules of engagement, but also enforce them. At the same time, all reports of unlawful killings must be thoroughly and independently investigated, and those responsible must be brought to justice, the High Commissioner emphasized.
Lethal force
Volker Türk noted that killings of Palestinians had already reached a “record high” in the first nine months of last year, and their scale increased sharply after the Hamas attacks on October 7. Let us recall that at that time about 1,250 people were killed in Israel and more than 250 were taken hostage. killed during the same periods in 2023 and 2022, respectively,” the OHCHR statement said. at least 29 operations, “including airstrikes by unmanned aerial vehicles or aircraft and surface-to-surface missile attacks on refugee camps and other densely populated areas.”
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164 Palestinians, including 35 children, were killed in these operations, according to OHCHR , many were victims of gunshot wounds to the upper body and could not receive medical care.
This indicates an intention to deprive people of the right to life, and not attempts to de-escalate the tense situation in those cases where “those executed clearly did not pose an immediate threat,” the UN Human Rights Office said.