A U.N. report says over 1,100 Palestinians have fled their homes in the West Bank since the start of 2022 due to Israeli settler violence
Violence from Israeli settlers has displaced over 1,100 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2022, according to a U.N. report released Thursday, with officials describing the exodus as unparalleled in recent years.
As Israeli settlements expand under the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinians say the violence from radical Israeli settlers has reached a fever pitch.“The U.N. has recorded unprecedented levels of settler violence against Palestinians this year,” said Lynn Hastings, humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory.
Experts say the trend is transforming the map of the West Bank and further undermining the prospects for an independent Palestinian state. The Palestinians seek the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip — areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war — for their future state.are mostly reliant on herding and agriculture for their livelihoods.
The Palestinian communities that saw the greatest population loss were in areas with the highest number of settlement outposts, according to the report.