Amman, Feb. 1 (Petra) - UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank has reached "record levels." In a statement on Sunday, Lazzarini said that what is happening in the West Bank is "Israel’s underreported silent war," referring to record levels of violence in the occupied West Bank since October 2023, during which more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed, a quarter of them children.

He noted that in parallel with Israel’s war of genocide on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel, through its army and settlers, intensified crimes in the West Bank, including killings, house demolitions, the displacement of Palestinians, and colonial expansion. This has resulted in the killing of 1,110 Palestinians, the injury of more than 11,500 others, and the arrest of more than 21,000.

Lazzarini explained that attacks by Israeli settlers continue unabated, while Palestinian communities are constantly subjected to intimidation, uprooted from their land, and have their livelihoods destroyed, amid prevailing impunity.

He added: "Tens of thousands of people remain displaced a year after the launch of Israel's operation 'Iron Wall' - the largest displacement since 1967. Their homes are now gradually demolished to prevent their return." He also said, "While global attention has been focused on Gaza, the flagrant disregard for international humanitarian law in the West Bank has been normalised." About 770,000 Israeli settlers live in hundreds of settlements in the occupied West Bank, including 250,000 in East Jerusalem, and carry out daily attacks against Palestinians with the aim of forcibly displacing them.

//Petra// AF