Israeli settler violence rose in 2023

Israeli settler violence rose in 2023
full screen Palestinian Abdelazim Wadi, 50, holds up a placard printed in memory of his brother and nephew who were killed by Israeli settlers during a funeral procession in the West Bank village of Qusra on October 12. Archive image. Photo: Mahmoud Illean/AP/TT

Israeli settlers killed at least ten Palestinians in the West Bank in 2023, according to an Israeli human rights organization.

Last year was thus the most violent year recorded so far in terms of violence from Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

Attacks soared after terror-labeled Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, according to human rights group Yesh Din, which began monitoring settler violence against Palestinians in 2006.

“The first two months after October 7 were particularly violent, with Yesh Din documenting 242 incidents of settler violence,” the organization writes.

“In connection with these events, hundreds of Israelis stormed Palestinian villages, and set fire to tens of homes and vehicles,” writes Yesh Din further.

At least 317 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces and settlers in the West Bank since the Gaza war erupted as a result of the Hamas attack, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Throughout the year, the figure amounts to more than 520, according to the ministry.

Israeli authorities, in turn, state that Palestinians have killed at least 41 Israelis in the West Bank and inside Israel in 2023, excluding those killed on October 7.

The US government said in December that it will refuse visas to extremist Israeli settlers who attack Palestinians.

The West Bank is governed by the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority and the secular organization Fatah – but has largely been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War.

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