‘Largest forcible transfer’ in West Bank due to settler violence – Norwegian Refugee Council
A family packs up their belongings in Khirbet Zanuta, in the southern West Bank, on 30 October 2023. Attacks by settlers, in some cases accompanied by soldiers, forced all the residents to leave
Samaa Abu Sharar reports in The Palestine Chronicle on 21 August 2024:
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) announced Wednesday [21 August 2024] that the recent illegal settler violence in the occupied West Bank provoked the “largest forcible transfer” since the weeks following October 7.
Allegra Pacheco, chief of party of the NRC-led West Bank Protection Consortium (WBPC) appealed in a statement to the international community including the United States and the European Union to urgently “intervene with the Israeli occupation authorities and protect these vulnerable communities.”
“Those that left want to return to their lands and livelihoods as soon as it is safe,” he added.
NRC pointed out in its statement that three communities, comprising 119 Palestinians, have been forced out in the last ten days due to attacks carried out by illegal Jewish settlers on community members in their homes, during which they established new settler outposts and blocked access to water.
The statement stated that two communities, Al-Farsiya Khallet Khader and Al-Farisiya al-Zu’bi, have been completely abandoned, while only one family remains in the third community, Ein al-Hilweh – Um al-Jmal.
The international organization held Israel responsible as the occupying power for the actions of violent settlers. “These attacks, occurring in broad daylight under the watching eyes and the protective force of the Israeli military, highlight the unlawfulness of Israel’s presence in the West Bank, as recently ruled by the International Court of Justice,” Pacheco said. “Palestinians are being forced to leave their land in what clearly constitutes a grave breach of international humanitarian law,” the statement added.
NRC revealed that the overall 18 communities in the Al-Maleh region, all of which are supported by the WBPC, have been already displaced or are at imminent risk of forcible transfer due to ongoing settler violence