UN cites 'alarming' rise in Israeli army operations in West Bank
World
UN cites 'alarming' rise in Israeli army operations in West Bank
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations rights office on Friday described "alarming" conditions in the occupied West Bank, saying Israeli forces were increasingly using military tactics and weapons in law enforcement operations there.
"While much attention has been on the (Hamas) attacks inside Israel and the escalation of hostilities in Gaza since the 7th of October, the situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is alarming and urgent," said Liz Throssell, spokesperson for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
She said at least 132 Palestinians, including 41 children, have been were killed in the West Bank, 124 of those by Israeli forces and some eight by Israeli settlers, since violence there intensified in the wake of Hamas' assault on Israel from Gaza.
Two Israeli soldiers were also killed.
The Israeli military has reported a sharp increase in operations against militants in the West Bank since the Oct. 7 attack, making some 1,260 arrests, of whom it said some 760 were affiliated with Hamas.
The worsening violence in the West Bank has fuelled concerns that the flashpoint Palestinian territory could become a third front in a wider war, in addition to Israel's northern border where clashes with Lebanese Hezbollah forces have mounted.
While Hamas and the smaller Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad militant group are mainly based in Gaza, over recent years they have also expanded their presence across the West Bank, notably in volatile cities including Jenin and Nablus.
