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They don’t live in Gaza. Nevertheless, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are currently experiencing violence on a scale that has even alarmed the USA and the EU.
Abdel Hakim has not been allowed to tend his farm for more than two months. The Palestinian farmer and trained psychologist from the town of Kusra in the occupied West Bank drives along an unpaved road up a hill. From there you have a view of your country and the Jewish settlement of Migdalim opposite.
The man in his mid-fifties points to the Israeli soldiers guarding the settlement. According to international law, they must also protect the Palestinian population from violent Israeli settlers.
Legend:
Abdel Hakim points to his land, which he is not allowed to enter.
SRF
“Settlers burned down the house down there, my chicken farm too, and they dug up my olive trees,” says Abdel Hakim. Surveillance camera footage documents how the settlers raged at the beginning of October without the soldiers intervening.
“When I try to enter my olive grove, they attack me,” says Abdel Hakim. “And here they have been blocking the road since October 7th.”
Legend:
The settlers have blocked the road near the village of Kusra.
SRF
On October 11, settlers shot three villagers. Abdel Hakim stops in front of a house where the traces of violence are still visible. “They shot through the windows there,” he says. Here too: Videos show a group of armed settlers shooting at the house. A five-year-old girl and her father are seriously injured.
Legend:
Several people died in an attack by armed settlers in Kusra.
SRF
“And the army is not there to stop them,” says Abdel Hakim. The settlers killed a total of four Palestinians in Kusra that day. At the funeral the next day they also killed his brother and nephew.
Legend:
Abdel Hakim in front of a picture of his killed nephew and his brother.
SRF
«That’s our life. You in Switzerland, in Europe, you sleep, get up, make your dreams come true. Why not us too? Tomorrow a bullet can hit my son and destroy all our dreams.
Also attacks in Huwara
In the nearby town of Huwara, extremist Jewish settlers killed the 17-year-old nephew of local council member Saddam Dumeidi the day before the Hamas attack on Israel.
It’s not acceptable for houses, land and income to be taken away from us and the world says nothing!
On October 7, the army placed Huwara under curfew and the government distributed weapons to settlers. “They closed 500 stores – for 40 days!” says Dumeidi. And thus Huwara’s economy was completely stifled. Settlers also prevent Palestinian children from going to school. “It’s not acceptable for houses, land and income to be taken away from us and the world says nothing!” says Saddam Dumeidi indignantly.
The local council itself is powerless. Huwara and Kusra are located in Zone B of the West Bank: this is administered by the Palestinian Authority, but is effectively under Israel’s military control.
Only two arrests so far
Around 270 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the start of the Israel-Gaza war. So far, Israeli authorities have only arrested two suspected perpetrators.
Meanwhile, the government continually approves new settlements in Palestinian areas, even during the war. The international community considers this to be illegal. The Palestinian population sees their silence as hypocrisy.