ISTANBUL: While Israel's ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip has kept global attention on the coastal enclave since Oct. 7 last year, the same period has seen escalating violence in the occupied West Bank, resulting in an unprecedented death toll in that territory as well. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, more than 630 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, including 192 children, since the violence escalated with the beginning of Israel's Gaza onslaught on Oct. 7. This exceeds the death toll of even 2002 during the Second Intifada uprising, which had hitherto been the bloodiest year in the territory since it was occupied by Israel in 1967. Israel's military operations Since Oct. 7, Israeli forces have stepped up their raids in the West Bank to a nearly daily basis, targeting civilian infrastructure, refugee camps, and residential homes. Palestinians have also been subject to violent assaults by illegal Israeli settlers. One of the most significant raids occurred in Jenin and the ci ty's refugee camp, leading to one of the deadliest confrontations in months as Israeli forces faced strong resistance from residents. Hundreds of soldiers, as well as drones and rockets, have been used in Israel's attacks on the Jenin refugee camp, populated with approximately 20,000 people. Over 70 military raids have been conducted in the camp since Oct. 7, resulting in more than 142 Palestinian deaths and many more injured, according to official Palestinian figures. Besides the casualties, UN figures indicate that nearly 500 Palestinians have been displaced across the West Bank in January-June as Israeli forces demolished 81 structures in Jenin, Nur Shams, and Tulkarm. Outside of Jenin, several other West Bank cities such as Nablus, Tulkarm, Ramallah, Qalqilya, and Bethlehem have also been targeted in attacks both by the army and illegal Israeli settlers. In the past week alone, raids in the West Bank killed at least 10 Palestinians in several raids on the cities of Tubas, Nablus, Ramallah, and Qalqil ya, as well as the towns of Tamun and Anata. Israel's illegal occupation Even with the increased pressure in the West Bank, far-right Israeli politicians have made calls for Tel Aviv to ramp up illegal Jewish settlement-building in the occupied Palestinian territory, seen by many as an obstacle to lasting peace via a two-state solution. Most of the West Bank, home to roughly 3 million Palestinians, is under direct Israeli administrative and security control under the 1993 Oslo Accords. While several European countries, including Norway, Ireland, and Spain, have taken the initiative to recognize Palestinian statehood since Oct. 7, Israel has continued its efforts to expand settlements and displace Palestinians from their homes. 'For every country that unilaterally recognizes a Palestinian state, we will establish a new town (illegal settlement) and thus bring about the demise of the delusional idea of establishing a Palestinian state that will endanger the existence of the State of Israel,' far-right Isra el's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said. This remark came after Spain, Ireland, Norway, Slovenia, and Armenia each recognized Palestine as a state. Smotrich, who heads the extremist Religious Zionism Party, has sought to eliminate any prospects for Palestinian statehood by creating facts on the ground and pushing for Israel's annexation of the territory. He also said that a decision the previous week to legalize five settlement outposts in the West Bank was in reaction to the decisions by these five countries to recognize Palestine as a state. Israeli settlement-building in the West Bank continues despite a 2016 UN Security Council resolution deeming it illegal, as well as a more recent order by the International Court of Justice for the evacuation of all current Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. As of Oct. 7, around 700,000 settlers were residing in the West Bank across 150 settlements and 128 outposts. The number of settlements and outposts has surged since the early 1990s, w hen about 250,000 settlers were in the West Bank. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Israeli army and settlers have displaced a total of 3,100 Palestinians, including 1,375 children, and demolished 1,380 Palestinian structures across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This was more than double the number displaced in the 10 months before Oct. 7. Tel-Aviv-based Peace Now, a nonprofit organization that tracks West Bank land seizures, reports that Israel has seized 23.7 square kilometers (over 9 square miles) of Palestinian land this year, making 2024 'a peak in the extent of declarations of state land.' Source : Anadolu Agency
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