The death toll due to Israel operations in the occupied West Bank since October 7 crossed 500 on Thursday after three youths were killed by Israeli forces raiding Tulkarm.
Mohamed Youssef Nasr Allah, 27, Ayman Ahmed Mubarak, 26, and Hossam Emad Deabes, 22 are the latest of 502 Palestinians killed. According to Al Jazeera, more than 230 Palestinians were killed during Israeli raids, while at least 20 are reported to have been killed by settlers from illegal settlements and outposts.
In addition, around 5,040 Palestinians have been injured in the same period, 34 per cent of whom by live ammunition, the data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
On 15 May, Israeli forces shot and killed a 20-year-old Palestinian man and detained another injured Palestinian at the Beit El DCO checkpoint at the northern entrance of Al Bireh city in Ramallah governorate.
The man was shot during a demonstration marking Nakba Day. Before October 7, at least 199 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank in 2023.
The deadly raids and settler violence in the West Bank have always faced strong criticism from human rights groups and UN agencies.
OCHA stated that Israeli settlers perpetrated 23 attacks against Palestinians that led to injury and damage to property. Thirteen (13) other settler incidents were reported that did not result in property damage, including intimidation of herders and entry into the Al Aqsa Mosque compound where tensions have remained high.
Overall, since 7 October, 848 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians resulted in Palestinian casualties (87 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (669 incidents), or both casualties and property damage (92 incidents).
The occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has been under continuous illegal Israeli occupation since June 1967. Its status as an occupied territory has been affirmed by the International Court of Justice and, except East Jerusalem, the Israeli Supreme Court.
UN rulings dating back to 1979 stipulate that establishing any Israeli settlement on the territory is illegal.
