Israeli settler violence toward Palestinians on rise

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-23 17:23

JERUSALEM -- An UN report has noted the number of incidents of violence by Israeli settlers toward Palestinians was on the rise, daily newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday.

The number of incidents of violence by setters was higher during the first 10 months of 2008 than during the entire years of either 2007 or 2006, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report issued on Monday.

There were 290 "settler-related incidents" between January and October this year, compared with 243 in 2007 and 182 in 2006, the UN report was quoted as saying.

OCHA defines "incidents" as casualties (killed or wounded), property damage, preventing access, trespassing and intimidation.

According to the report, OCHA also found that over the past three years, more Israelis than Palestinians have been killed in incidents involving setters -- 10 Israelis versus four Palestinians.

However, during the same period, 293 Palestinians were hurt in such incidents, compared with 116 Israelis.

Most of the Palestinians, or some 65 percent injured in the first 10 months of 2008 were hurt in unarmed physical assaults by settlers and another 27 percent were wounded in stone-throwing incidents, said the UN report, adding that there were only two cases of injuries caused by firearms.

Half the Palestinian injuries were sustained by children, women and the elderly, OCHA found, adding that most of the incidents occurred in the Hebron and Nablus districts.

The UN report referred to the violence in the Hebron area and other parts of the West Bank that erupted as a result of the clash between the Israeli government and settlers over the disputed Hebron building "the house of peace."

On December 4, Israeli security forces evicted Jewish inhabitants from the building, which has been occupied by dozens of hardline settlers since March 2007 who claim that they have bought the house from its Palestinian owner.