Israeli occupier attacks in West Bank surge 63%: Palestinian agency

Attacks by Israeli occupiers across the West Bank surged 63% from January through July compared with the same period last year, a Palestinian government agency said Monday. The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said it recorded 4,113 attacks during the seven-month period, up from 2,524 a year earlier, an increase of 1,589 incidents. The commission said the surge coincided with the expansion of illegal settlement outposts, particularly pastoral ones, as well as the arming of Israeli occupiers and the incorporation of some into security formations. It also cited Israeli military protection and declining accountability as factors behind the rise. The agency said weak international deterrence and accountability had helped turn attacks by Israeli occupiers from isolated incidents into an organised tool to impose new realities on the ground and push Palestinian communities toward displacement. Read: Gazans say Trump's plan jars with grim reality On Saturday, the commission said the occupied West Bank had 592 illegal Israeli settlements and outposts, while Israel controlled about 42% of the territory. It put the number of Israeli occupiers living in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, at around 780,000 as of the end of July, including 333,600 in illegal settlements in Jerusalem and 446,400 elsewhere in the West Bank. Israel has killed more than 21,500 Palestinian children and targeted 1,244 of the Gaza Strip’s 1,275 mosques since the start of the war in October 2023, the enclave’s Government Media Office said Monday. The office said the Israeli army had systematically targeted civilians, homes and places of worship during the genocide in Gaza. It said 1,077 of the mosques were completely destroyed. Read More: Pope calls for an end to West Bank violence against Palestinians The office condemned the continued targeting of civilians, children and places of worship and urged mediators to pressure Israel to halt its ceasefire violations and fully abide by the agreement. The statement came amid renewed Israeli threats to escalate attacks on Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened Sunday to step up assassinations and evacuate residential neighbourhoods over kites reaching Israeli areas from Gaza. The warning came despite the Israeli army saying Saturday that four kites recovered near Gaza contained no suspicious materials and posed no danger to the public. The Israeli army has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and injured over 174,000 others in its brutal offensive since October 2023.