Palestinians count cost of West Bank’s ‘deadliest year’

Concluding a visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank yesterday, Norwegian diplomat Jan Egeland said he was “struck by the immense challenges Palestinians face to gain any semblance of a normal life.”

Mr Egeland, who heads the Norwegian Refugee Council, tweeted: “Each day seems to get harder as rising violence and oppression continue to dictate even the simplest elements of life.” He urged the world’s diplomats and politicians “to help end the cycles of violence and the unlawful siege and occupation”.

In response to the deaths of four Palestinians on Thursday, Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh accused Israel of waging all-out war against the Palestinians.

Meanwhile, during a visit with foreign diplomats to the West Bank city of Nablus following the lifting of a three-week Israeli siege, Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh denounced “collective punishment” and called for international protection for the Palestinian people.

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German diplomat Oliver Owcza wrote: “In meetings with affected residents, business and civil society leaders, we witnessed the severe humanitarian, economic and political impact of settler violence and undue blockades.”

Nablus and Jenin have become the epicentres of armed Palestinian resistance to raids by the Israeli army.

The UN’s special co-ordinator for the Middle East process, Tor Wennesland, told the security council last week that so far 2022 is “the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank” since the UN began counting fatalities in 2005. He said: “The immediate priority is to work to calm the situation and reverse the negative trends on the ground.” He said the objective must be “to empower and strengthen the Palestinian Authority and build towards a return to a political process”.

The UN reported that during October, 32 Palestinians, including six children, were killed by Israeli forces and 311 were injured, while two Israeli security personnel were killed and 25 Israeli civilians wounded. This year so far, the death toll for West Bank-East Jerusalem Palestinians has exceeded 125. Another 51 Palestinians were killed in Gaza.

The latest fatalities coincided with the victory of Binyamin Netanyahu in Tuesday’s legislative election in Istael. He won a solid majority in the Knesset by recruiting far-right allies who have pledged to take a tough line with Palestinians.

The rise in violence followed the killing last spring of 19 people in Israel by Palestinians. The spike in violence prompted the outgoing government to launch a protracted campaign to root out Palestinian resistance in the West Bank. While Israel has said most of the Palestinian fatalities have been militants, youths protesting raids and bystanders have also been killed.

Constant violence in the occupied territories and the likely election of a hard-right Israeli government prompted host Algeria to make Palestine the central issue at this week’s Arab summit.

It was not attended by the rulers of the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain, countries that have normalised ties with Israel despite popular opposition. Leading Emirati commentator Abdulkhalaq Abdulla was emboldened to tweet, “I think it is appropriate to freeze [relations] temporarily”.

Israel’s government press office director Nitzan Chen did not respond to The Irish Times’ request for comment on the situation.