Oxfam report: The loss of life in the West Bank has passed the last 17 years
Oxfam announced that the number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army and Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank since 2023 has exceeded the sum of the previous 17 years. In the report based on the data of the United Nations, it was stated that at least 1244 Palestinians, including 268 children, have lost their lives in the region in the last two years.
International aid organization Oxfam announced that the number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army and Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank since 2023, when the developments related to the Gaza war began, have left the sum of the previous 17 years.
According to the report based on United Nations (UN) data, children are one out of every five Palestinians who have lost their lives in the region in the last two decades.
In the 17-year period between 2006 and 2022, the report stated that a total of 1036 Palestinians, including 225 children, were killed by Israeli soldiers or armed Jewish settlers.
On the other hand, the information that at least 1244 Palestinians, including 268 children, lost their lives in the two-year period from 2023 to last year was shared.
It was noted that the military operation launched by Israel against the Gaza Strip after Hamas's operation on October 7, 2023 and described as a "genocide" by UN experts and human rights organizations, also raised the spiral of violence in the West Bank to an unprecedented level.
The report emphasized that the systematic destruction of refugee camps by the Israeli army, the organization of raids, the armed and encouragement of Jewish settlers and the heavy restrictions on the Palestinians' freedom of movement deepened the crisis in the region.
The number of displaced Palestinians is increasing
Oxfam and other human rights organizations describe the Israeli army's intensified operations and settler violence as “ethnic cleansing”.
Oxfam Humanitarian Aid Policies Expert Büşra Halidi said in a statement on the subject, "The increasing civilian deaths in the West Bank are tragic and terrifying. While the eyes of the world are turned to Gaza, the attacks in the West Bank continue to climb unabated," he said.
According to the data in the report, about 46 thousand Palestinians in the West Bank in the last three years have been displaced by Israeli army operations, destruction, settler violence and access restrictions.
It was stated that this number points to a picture well above the 13 thousand people who were exposed to forced migration in the previous 14 years.
It was stated that the groups most affected by this situation were the nomadic Bedouin communities, and that the UN data documented that at least 5,900 Bedouins were forcibly removed from their lands.
Record increase in military checkpoints
It was reported that the people of the region faced not only the destruction of their homes, but also the systematic destruction of vital civilian infrastructure, including pipelines.
Oxfam said the number of military checkpoints and barricades that permanently or intermittently hindered freedom of movement of 3 million Palestinians across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has reached a record high to 925.
It was noted that this figure means an increase of 43 percent over the 647 restriction point, which is the annual average of the previous 20 years.
Stating that it continues to deliver humanitarian aid to vulnerable communities despite this process in the occupied territories, the aid organization called on the international community and stressed that Israel's illegal occupation in East Jerusalem and West Bank and attempts to annex the territories should be stopped immediately.