The United Nations has raised alarm over the ongoing Israeli aggression in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, marking the longest such deployment of the regime’s forces in the area since the early 2000s, according to a senior UN official.
Speaking at a press briefing on Friday, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) “remains concerned by Israeli forces’ ongoing operations in the northern part of the West Bank.”
He also warned that settler violence against Palestinians and their property also continues in the West Bank, involving an average of almost five per day between February 11 and 17.
“In one such incident, Israeli settlers severed agricultural water pipes in Tulkarm governorate, affecting the livelihoods of a dozen Palestinian farmers,” Dujarric said.
“During the same period, nearly 40 Palestinians were displaced near Al Maniya village in Bethlehem, following recurrent attacks from Israeli settlers over the past year.”
According to Dujarric, the OCHA has documented the displacement of almost 2,300 Palestinians — including 1,100 children — across the West Bank since the start of 2023 due to heightened settler violence and access restrictions by Israeli authorities.
The Israeli regime launched an offensive on the northern West Bank last month, killing at least 60 Palestinians and displacing thousands there.
Since the start of the Gaza war on October 7, 2023, attacks by the Israeli army and settlers have killed at least 920 across the occupied West Bank.