West Bank – Israeli forces have killed at least 502 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since October 7, marking a significant escalation in violence. Additionally, the number of Palestinian detainees in the West Bank has increased to 7,505 since Oct. 7, as confirmed by the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society in a joint statement.
The latest casualties were three young men – Mohamed Youssef Nasr Allah, 27, Ayman Ahmed Mubarak, 26, and Hossam Emad Deabes, 22 – who were killed during an Israeli raid in Tulkarm on Thursday, May 16.
Since the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, which initiated Israel’s intense military campaign in Gaza, the conflict has spilt over into the West Bank and East Jerusalem. This escalation has seen more than 230 Palestinians killed in Israeli raids and at least 20 more by settlers from illegal settlements.
The ongoing war in Gaza has resulted in over 35,000 deaths and more than 70,000 injuries, with approximately 10,000 people missing and presumed dead under the rubble of the heavily bombarded Strip. The violence has exacerbated tensions in the West Bank, where Israeli military raids and increased settler violence have intensified.
According to United Nations figures, the West Bank saw 154 Palestinian deaths in 2022 after Israel began near-daily raids in the territory. Among those killed was Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, an American citizen, who died from an Israeli sniper’s bullet while covering a raid in Jenin in May 2022.
The election of a far-right government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the end of 2022 has further escalated violence in the region. In 2023, before October 7, at least 199 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank. Israeli raids, both before and after October 7, have targeted Palestinian armed groups, aiming to prevent the emergence of new resistance groups unaligned with established organizations such as Fatah or Hamas.
Since October 7, Israeli forces have intensified their operations in the West Bank, using air power, including helicopters and drones, to target Palestinians. Many of those killed have been unarmed civilians. Amnesty International reported in February that Israeli forces have conducted unlawful killings, used excessive force during protests and raids, and denied medical assistance to the injured.
The UN has called on Israel to cease these “unlawful killings,” with the head of the UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territories highlighting that a lack of accountability and incitement from Israeli officials have contributed to the increase in violence by both Israeli forces and settlers.
The Israeli settler movement, seeking to populate the West Bank and East Jerusalem with Jewish settlers at the expense of Palestinians, has intensified its activities since October 7, exploiting the conflict to attack Palestinian communities with apparent impunity.
The occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has been under Israeli occupation since June 1967. Despite international rulings affirming its status as occupied territory and declaring Israeli settlements illegal, Israel has built over 140 settlements, housing hundreds of thousands of Israelis, on Palestinian land. These settlements and their exclusive road networks restrict Palestinian access and have been described as an “apartheid” system by Palestinians and human rights advocates.
As violence continues to escalate, Palestinians in the West Bank fear they may face the same level of devastation seen in Gaza, further deepening the humanitarian crisis in the region.
