EBN- The UN has expressed serious concern about the rising violence in the West Bank and has demanded that Israeli forces cease their support for settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied territory “immediately.”
The UN human rights office released the statement a few hours after Israeli settlers killed two Palestinian men in the most recent violent attack in the tense West Bank in a northern village south of Nablus.
The settlers claimed it started with an attack on a Jewish person, but the Palestinians claimed the incident happened after a fight in which they broke into Palestinian-owned land and attacked locals.
Following an increase in settlers’ attacks throughout the West Bank, eight Palestinians had been killed by Israeli forces and settlers. Palestinian witnesses and video showed that Israeli forces had been present and provided support to the armed settlers.
Salah Bani Jaber, the mayor of Aqraba, a town near the northern city of Nablus, saw Monday’s settler attack. He said about 50 settlers attacked local residents and fired at Palestinian youths. The armed settlers killed two local young men during the attack, he further said.
“There were Israeli soldiers at the scene who stood idly by watching the settlers,” he said.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said soldiers blocked its ambulances from reaching the area and tending to the wounded. The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident.
