Terror Escalates in the West Bank as Settler Violence Intensifies
** Bottom Line Up Front ------------------------------------------------------------ * Settler violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank has intensified since the start of the Iran War. * While official Israeli statements have condemned certain instances of settler violence, the far-right government has expanded settlements into contested areas, and reports point to no legal persecution of fatal settler violence by Israeli authorities since 2020. * Internationally, states have sought to curb settler violence through sanctions on settler leaders and have warned against construction contractors working on illegal settlements. * With the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) fighting on multiple fronts, local reserve units consisting of settlers may increasingly be drawn upon in security roles in the West Bank, further exacerbating the problem of violence. Since the start (https://www.btselem.org/ota) of the Iran War, violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank has resurged, with various residential areas, agricultural fields, and critical infrastructure sites demolished over the last few months, and multiple confirmed cases of Israeli settlers killing Palestinians noted across the West Bank. Occupied by Israel’s military since the 1967 Six-Day War, this territory houses hundreds of settlements as well as informal outposts by settlers seeking to expand Israeli presence in the West Bank, illegal under international law, including Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention that stipulates individual or mass forcible transfers and deportations of protected civilians from occupied territories are strictly forbidden. At present, roughly 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank, and three million Palestinians reside in the territory...
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