UN decries "unfathomable" number of Palestinians killed in West Bank since October

West Bank - The UN rights chief on Tuesday demanded an end to surging violence in the occupied West Bank, saying it was "unfathomable" that Israel had killed more than 500 Palestinians there since October 7.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has urged an end to Israeli violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has urged an end to Israeli violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.  © Collage: IMAGO / MAXPPP & IMAGO / Xinhua

"As if the tragic events in Israel and then Gaza over the past eight months were not enough, the people of the occupied West Bank are also being subjected to day-after-day of unprecedented bloodshed," Volker Türk said in a statement.

"It is unfathomable that so many lives have been taken in such a wanton fashion."

Palestinian officials said Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Monday.

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The Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah named the dead men as Adam Salahuddin Mansour Faraj (23) and Mutaz Khaled Sadiq Nabulsi (28).

The Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed that two men were killed in an Israeli raid, while nine others were wounded by Israeli forces.

The West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has seen a surge in violence for more than a year, but particularly since Israel launched its brutal siege of Gaza last October.

At least 523 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli troops or settlers in the last eight months, Palestinian officials say, as residents suffer under Israel's brutal apartheid regime.

Attacks by Palestinians have killed at least 14 Israelis in the West Bank over the same period, according to Israeli figures.

Cover photo: Collage: IMAGO / MAXPPP & IMAGO / Xinhua

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