Israeli military and Palestinians in the West Bank

Gaza August 16, 2024 (QJ)-On Friday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that Mahmoud Abdel Qader Sadda was brutally shot during an attack in Jit, a village located about 10 km (6 miles) west of Nablus in the northern West Bank. According to eyewitnesses and video footage from the scene, dozens of Israeli settlers, with their faces covered, stormed the village, firing at residents, burning cars, and destroying homes and other property.

This attack coincides with an escalation in violence between the Israeli military and settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank. Since the beginning of the Gaza conflict on October 7th, up until August 12th, approximately 600 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank, according to the latest figures from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Human rights groups have criticized Israel for allowing its military and settlers to act with “impunity” in attacks against Palestinians. The attack on Jit has drawn widespread condemnation, including from countries that continue to provide military and diplomatic support to Israel, despite the ongoing Gaza conflict.

Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, stated that the attack on Jit was “intended to terrorize Palestinian civilians.” UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy also condemned the attack “in the strongest terms.”

Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office, noted that the violence in Jit was “not an isolated incident.” Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, stated that sanctions should be imposed on Israel following the attack by settlers.