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West Bank Palestinians report Israeli beatings, mistreatment

Ramallah (Reuters) – Hamza al-Qawasmi was at home in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron last month when Israeli forces stormed in after midnight and told him he was under arrest.

The 27-year-old coffee seller had taken part in marches against the Gaza war. He had been arrested and detained previously for being a member of the Islamic bloc at Hebron University but he said the treatment this time was the worst.

“They put me in the military jeep. That’s when the assault began,” he told Reuters.

Qawasmi said his captors blindfolded and handcuffed him, took him away, accused him of being an ISIS member, beat him and at some point removed the blindfold so he could see them point their rifles to his head as they threatened to kill him.

The Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment on Qawasmi’s case.

Israeli-Palestinian tensions have flared in the West Bank since Palestinian Hamas gunmen rampaged into southern Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel launched a retaliatory assault on blockaded Gaza, killing more than 12,000 people, according to a Palestinian Health Ministry tally in the Hamas-run enclave.

While Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians have been in focus the last six weeks, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, home to 3 million Palestinians who live among more than half a million Jewish settlers, has been seething for more than 18 months, drawing growing international concern as violence has escalated.

Palestinian detainees and officials say Israel has conducted mass arrests in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and that prisoners were increasingly facing physical assaults and humiliating treatment in Israeli detention facilities.

“Israel today is in the mood of revenge,” Ramallah-based Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh told Reuters.

Amnesty International said in a Nov. 8 statement that Israel had dramatically increased its use of administrative detention, a form of incarceration without charge or trial.

The Israeli military has said it operates in the West Bank against suspects involved in militant activity. On Friday, it said most of the 1,750 Palestinians it had caught there in recent weeks were associated with the Islamist Hamas.

A statement by the Israel Prison Service said that “as part of the war effort” it was imposing tougher imprisonment conditions for Palestinian political prisoners.

The Palestinian Prisoners Society, representing prisoners held by Israel, said Qawasmi was one of more than 2,700 Palestinians arrested in the West Bank since Oct. 7 when Hamas gunmen breached the fence enclosing Gaza and launched an attack in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed and about 240 people were taken hostage.

The number of Palestinians held by Israel has risen to more than 7,800, including some 300 children and 72 women, said Qadura Fares, head of the Palestinian Authority Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs. He said the number did not include prisoners from Gaza, which he said Israel refuses to disclose.

At least four Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli custody in recent weeks, Fares said. He said autopsies showed they were tortured or medically neglected. Hundreds more prisoners were wounded after being severely beaten, their limbs and ribs broken and their bodies bruised, he added.

An Israeli prisons spokesperson said three Palestinian prisoners had died in three different circumstances over the past six weeks and that the incidents were under investigation.

Qawasmi said he was placed in administrative detention in Ofer Prison, where he said the cells were overcrowded. He said of some 70 prisoners he encountered, most had visible bruises and one prisoner who was beaten until his arm was broken was denied medical attention.

Qawasmi said he was released after being held for two weeks. He said prison guards told him his personal belongings including his clothes, confiscated on his arrival, were tossed in the trash and he was made to leave in his undergarments.

Palestinians Accuse Israeli Forces Of Ill Treatment

A spokesperson for the Israel Prison Service said they had no knowledge of the event described by Qawasmi but that all prisoners and detainees had the right to file complaints which would be examined by the authorities.

“All prisoners in IPS custody are detained according to the provisions of the law,” the spokesperson said.

Heba Morayef, Amnesty’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, cited testimony and video evidence she said pointed to numerous incidents of torture and other ill-treatment by Israeli forces including beatings and deliberate humiliation of Palestinians detained in dire conditions.

In a Nov. 13 video verified by Reuters, masked Israeli soldiers in Hebron are seen beating a Palestinian man while he livestreamed on TikTok. The soldiers were seen forcibly entering his house, kicking him and beating him with their rifles in front of his family as his daughter screamed in panic. The man, Eyad Banat, was released hours later.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday that soldiers detained Banat for preventing them from searching his apartment building for wanted militants, without elaborating on how he was obstructing their activity while he was in his house or whether any militants were found.

It said a preliminary investigation indicated that an “unreasonable amount of force” was used in Banat’s arrest and that disciplinary action will be taken by a military commander as the investigation continues. Banat’s cousin, Nizar Banat, who was an outspoken critic of the Palestinian Authority, died in custody of the PA security forces in 2021.

Prisons are overseen by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has long advocated for a crackdown on Palestinian prisoners.

On Tuesday, Ben-Gvir posted a video from a visit to one of the jails where he said Palestinian militants were held in the strictest conditions and where the Israeli national anthem would play on loudspeakers at all times. He said he hoped a bill supporting the death penalty for militants would soon be advanced beyond a preliminary vote in parliament.

Israel kills 5 Palestinian fighters in West Bank air strike

Ramallah (Reuters) – An Israeli air strike killed five Palestinian fighters and wounded two other people in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, their faction, medics and Israel’s military said.

Palestinian media said the attack in Balata, near the northern city of Nablus, appeared to have been carried out by a warplane in what would mark an escalation of Israeli tactics in the West Bank. The military did not immediately confirm that.

The West Bank has seen a surge of violence in parallel to Israel’s six-week-old war against Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip, another territory where Palestinians seek statehood.

In a statement, the military said it struck “a number of terrorists (in Balata) … and prevented terror attacks against Israeli civilians”. The strike was carried out by one of its aircraft, it added, without specifying the type.

An armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party claimed the five dead as its fighters.

At least 186 West Bank Palestinians, including 51 children, have been killed by Israeli forces since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war, according to U.N. figures. Another eight have been killed by Israeli settlers, while four Israelis have been killed by Palestinians, according to the figures.

Hezbollah, Israel trade strikes at Lebanese border in latest escalation

Beirut (Reuters) – Hezbollah and Israel traded rocket and missile fire in areas near the Lebanese-Israeli border on Saturday, officials on both sides said, in the latest flare-up of violence which the United States worries will cause conflict to spiral in the Middle East.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah said it shot down an Israeli drone near the border in the early hours of Saturday. Israel’s military said it intercepted a missile fired at an Israeli drone. Reuters could not verify either statement.

Lebanese officials said an Israeli air strike hit a building in an industrial area near the town of Nabatieh, one of the deepest Israeli strikes inside Lebanese territory since fighting began last month. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.

Lawmaker Hani Kobeissy distributed a video online of him visiting the site which he said was an aluminium supply store that had been bombed by Israel.

Hezbollah released a series of statements early on Saturday saying it had hit Israeli military sites and troops in areas along the border and caused casualties.

The violence is a spillover from Israel’s war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Hamas, which controls Gaza, attacked Israeli towns on Oct. 7 killing 1,200 people, according to Israel. Israel has bombarded and invaded Gaza since then, killing 12,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

Hezbollah has attacked Israeli troops at the Lebanese border since the latest Gaza war began and Israel has launched air and artillery strikes against southern Lebanon. More than 70 Hezbollah fighters and 10 civilians have been killed and at least 10 Israelis, most of them soldiers, have been killed.

It is the deadliest violence since the two sides fought a war in 2006. Western officials worry that its escalation risks drawing Iran and the United States further into the conflict.

Turkey will seek to rebuild Gaza if ceasefire achieved – Erdogan cited by media

Istanbul (Reuters) – Turkey will make efforts to rebuild damaged infrastructure, hospitals and schools in Gaza if a ceasefire is achieved there, Turkish media on Saturday reported President Tayyip Erdogan as saying.

“If a ceasefire is reached, we will do whatever is necessary to compensate for the destruction caused by Israel,” Erdogan told reporters on his plane returning from a trip to Berlin, where he held talks with German leaders.

“We will make efforts to rebuild the damaged infrastructure in Gaza and rebuild the destroyed schools, hospitals, water and energy facilities,” he was cited as saying by broadcaster A Haber on its website.

Earlier this week Erdogan called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce whether Israel had nuclear weapons and he returned to the issue in his comments to reporters, calling for nuclear weapons inspections there.

“As Turkey, we are making this call. Israel’s nuclear weapons must be inspected beyond doubt before it is too late. We will follow up on this,” he said.

Erdogan also said the families of Israelis held hostage by the militant group Hamas had sent him a letter requesting that he intervened to secure their release, and he said Turkey’s intelligence agency had been activated to look into the issue.

The foreign minister of Saudi Arabia demands that the Gaza crisis cease

Riyadh – Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan held discussions with European Union foreign policy official Josep Borrell on Saturday to address the ongoing situation in Gaza. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the IISS Manama Security summit held in Bahrain.

During the meeting, Prince Faisal and Borrell engaged in a comprehensive discussion on the recent developments unfolding in the Gaza Strip, particularly focusing on the military escalation in the region. The officials expressed their concerns regarding the escalating violence and the violations being committed against civilians.

Prince Faisal firmly denounced the continuous military escalation and the mistreatment of innocent civilians in Gaza. He emphasized the urgency of putting an end to the escalation and preventing the forced displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

In his statement, Prince Faisal called upon the international community to take immediate action and intervene to halt the occupation’s violations against civilians in Gaza. The Foreign Minister stressed the importance of upholding the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people and resolving the conflict through peaceful means.

The discussions between Prince Faisal and Borrell reflect the shared commitment of Saudi Arabia and the European Union to address the ongoing crisis in Gaza and work towards finding a sustainable solution. The international community’s engagement and cooperation in ending the violence and promoting stability in the region are crucial for the welfare and well-being of the Palestinian population.

The meeting at the IISS Manama Security summit serves as an important platform for diplomatic dialogue and collaboration, enabling key stakeholders to exchange views and explore avenues for resolving conflicts and promoting regional security.

As the situation in Gaza remains critical, the engagement of influential actors such as Saudi Arabia and the European Union plays a vital role in advocating for a peaceful resolution and ensuring the protection of civilian lives. The discussions between Prince Faisal and Borrell mark a step forward in reinforcing international efforts to bring about stability and justice in Gaza and the wider region.

A UN expert cautions Israel to cease using water as a “weapon of war”

New York City – Israel must cease using water as a “weapon of war” and allow clean water and fuel supplies into Gaza immediately, warned a UN expert on Friday. Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, the UN’s special rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, emphasized that intentionally depriving the civilian population of essential resources is a violation of international law and constitutes a crime against humanity.

Arrojo-Agudo highlighted the urgent situation in the Gaza Strip, stating that every hour that passes with Israel obstructing the provision of safe drinking water puts the lives of Gazans in jeopardy. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East has reported that the depletion of fuel supplies in Gaza has led to the breakdown of water supplies, sewage-management systems, sanitation services, communications networks, and healthcare facilities.

Conscious prevention of supplies necessary for safe water entering Gaza is a violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, Arrojo-Agudo stressed. He warned that the impact on public health and hygiene could result in more civilian deaths than the already devastating toll from the bombardment of Gaza. Children, particularly those under the age of five, and women are the most vulnerable in this water and sanitation emergency, he added.

According to UNRWA, approximately 70% of Gazans are forced to consume contaminated or saltwater to survive. Many water-related facilities in the region, including sewage-pumping stations, wells, desalination plants, and wastewater treatment plants, have ceased operations. The consumption of salinated and polluted water from unsafe sources has already led to dehydration and waterborne diseases among the population.

UNRWA has warned that humanitarian operations will collapse due to the lack of fuel, which is essential for desalination processes, electricity generation, healthcare equipment, and aid delivery. Arrojo-Agudo urged the international community to ensure that Israel fulfills its obligations under international law and emphasized that the fate of Palestinians in Gaza ultimately rests in Israel’s hands.

As a special rapporteur, Arrojo-Agudo is an independent expert who works voluntarily and is not a UN staff member. His role is part of the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council, aiming to address human rights issues and promote accountability.

First aircraft to arrive in the UAE bringing children from Gaza

Abu Dhabi – In a humanitarian effort directed by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the first plane carrying 15 injured children and their families from Gaza arrived in the UAE on Saturday, according to the state news agency (WAM). This initiative aims to provide medical treatment to 1,000 Palestinian children and their families in UAE hospitals.

The children who were evacuated from Gaza through the Rafah crossing, including those with severe injuries, burns, and young cancer patients, boarded a plane departing from Al-Arish International Airport in Egypt. Upon landing in Abu Dhabi, the children were received by medical teams from UAE hospitals.

According to a statement issued by WAM, additional groups of injured Palestinians are expected to be received in the coming weeks. The UAE has made preparations in its hospitals to provide necessary treatment for the injured Palestinian children and their families until they are fully recovered and deemed safe to return home. Maha Barakat, UAE Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Health, emphasized the commitment of UAE hospitals to ensure the well-being and recovery of the children.

The conflict in Gaza has resulted in a devastating toll on the civilian population, particularly children. Israel’s intense air bombardment and ground operations have claimed the lives of more than 11,000 people, including thousands of children.

In response to the humanitarian crisis, the UAE has allocated a $20 million humanitarian package. As part of this effort, 51 planes have been dispatched, carrying 1,400 tonnes of food, shelter, and medical supplies to Gaza, as disclosed by Barakat. Recognizing the urgent need for medical assistance, the UAE President has further directed the establishment of a field hospital in the Gaza Strip. This initiative is crucial as the main hospitals and medical facilities in the region have been severely affected by the lack of fuel and supplies.

The arrival of the injured children and their families in the UAE signifies a significant step toward providing essential medical care and support to those affected by the conflict. The UAE’s unwavering commitment to humanitarian aid and its efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people demonstrate solidarity and compassion in times of crisis.

Jordan doubts Israel can destroy Hamas as Gaza war rages

Manama (Reuters) – Jordan’s foreign minister voiced doubt on Saturday that Israel could reach its goal of obliterating Hamas with its heavy bombardment and invasion of the Gaza Strip long dominated by the Palestinian Islamist movement.

“Israel says it wants to wipe out Hamas. There’s a lot of military people here, I just don’t understand how this objective can be realised,” Ayman Safadi said at the annual IISS Manama Dialogue security summit in Bahrain.

Israel vowed to annihilate Hamas since its deadly Oct. 7 cross-border rampage into Israel. Since then, Israel has bombed much of Gaza City to rubble as it has subdued the enclave’s north and turned to stepping up attacks on Hamas in the south.

Israel’s devastating blitz of Gaza has raised questions over who would govern the densely populated enclave in the event of a Hamas defeat in the enclave it has ruled since 2007.

Only the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Western-backed entity that exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, could run Gaza after the Israel-Hamas war is over, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

“Hamas cannot be in control of Gaza any longer,” Borrell told the Manama Dialogue, an annual conference on foreign and security policy. “So who will be in control of Gaza? I think only one could do that – the Palestinian Authority.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said the PA could play a role in administering Gaza if there was a full political solution – moves towards Palestinian statehood on lands Israel has occupied since 1967 – that also encompassed the West Bank.

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been frozen since 2014. The PA is deeply unpopular among Palestinians, perceived largely as a corrupt security subcontractor for Israel, and Israel is now under a hardline religious-nationalist government.

Hamas took over Gaza after a brief civil war in 2007 with Abbas’ Fatah party. Years of reconciliation talks between the rivals failed to reach a breakthrough for resuming PA administration of Gaza. The PA still pays for electricity, water and some civil servant salaries in Gaza.

About two-thirds of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians have been displaced by Israel’s onslaught. Many of those who have fled fear their homelessness could become permanent.

Safadi warned Jordan would do “whatever it takes to stop” such displacement. “We will never allow that to happen, in addition to it being a war crime, it would be a direct threat to our national security. We’ll do whatever it takes to stop it.”

Jordan, which shares a border with the West Bank, absorbed the bulk of Palestinians who fled or were driven out of their homes when Israel was created in 1948.

The Gaza war has stirred fears of upheaval in Jordan with officials seeing a risk that Israel could expel Palestinians en masse from the West Bank, where Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians have surged since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

“This war is not taking us anywhere but towards more conflict, more suffering and the threat of expanding into regional wars,” said Safadi.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s top adviser on the Middle East told the Manama conference that the release of hostages held by Hamas would lead to a surge in the delivery of humanitarian aid and a significant pause in fighting in Gaza.

“The hostages are released, you will see a significant, significant change,” Brett McGurk told the Manama conference.

Bahrain’s crown prince, addressing the gathering on Friday, called on Hamas to release Israeli women and children held hostage and for Israel in exchange to release from its prisons Palestinian women and children who he said were non-combatants.

Israeli offensive in south Gaza will put civilians in firing line

London/Gaza (Reuters) – An Israeli military push into the crowded south of the Gaza Strip, expected in the coming days, may prove more complicated than its ground offensive in the north, with higher casualties likely for civilians and soldiers, a senior Israeli security source and two former top officials said.

An Israeli military spokesman indicated on Friday that the military operation against Hamas would advance into southern Gaza but gave no indication of timing. A wave of shelling on Thursday in southern Gaza around the town of Khan Younis has stirred fear among displaced Palestinians sheltering there that the anticipated military push was imminent.

Hundreds of thousands of Gazans fled to the south of the enclave in recent weeks after Israel told them to leave the north. Now many are afraid after leaflets were dropped near Khan Younis on Thursday telling them to move again, this time westward.

“They asked us, the citizens of Gaza, to go to the south. We went to the south. Now they are asking us to leave. Where do we go?” said Atya Abu Jab, outside his tent where his family who fled Gaza City now live, one of a long row of makeshift homes.

The leaflets in areas around Khan Younis were dropped before heavy shelling, the kind of pattern that heralded the start of Israel’s ground assault three weeks ago.

On Saturday, Israel issued a fresh warning to Palestinians in Khan Younis to move out of the line of fire and closer to humanitarian aid, before airstrikes continued.

Giora Eiland, a former head of Israel’s National Security Council, said a ground campaign might take three to four weeks to subdue Hamas resistance in the south, where its leadership was now concentrated.

“One of the more challenging situations is the simple fact that most of the people of the Gaza Strip are now concentrated in the south,” he told Reuters. “There will probably be more civilian casualties … It is not going to deter us or prevent us from moving forward.”

The escalating civilian toll of the offensive has already stirred outcry across the Middle East and among Western nations, including Israel’s closest ally the United States.

Gaza health authorities say more than 12,000 people have been killed so far in Israel’s campaign, which was launched in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas that runs the Gaza Strip. Hamas gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took some 240 hostages in the raid.

A senior U.S. official told Reuters that, given the south was densely populated, an Israeli campaign there was likely to put less emphasis on airstrikes and focus more on ground forces, comments that chimed with assessments by Israeli sources.

The U.S. official also said Israel had no choice but to launch an offensive in the south if it wanted to vanquish Hamas – the stated aim of the campaign.

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Israel’s chief military spokesman, told a regular briefing on Friday that an expanded offensive would proceed whenever the armed forces deemed best.

“We are determined to advance our operation. It will happen wherever Hamas exists, including in the south of the strip,” Hagari said, without providing further details.

US Calls For Humanitarian Corriodors

Washington has backed Israel’s campaign to annihilate Hamas but, while stopping short of seeking a ceasefire, it has called for pauses to let in aid for Gaza’s 2.3 million people and said there have been too many civilian deaths already.

“We have been in conversation with them to impress upon them that as they continue to look at expanded military operations or ground operations in other parts of Gaza, they need to ensure that there are…humanitarian corridors for civilians,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Thursday.

Israel says it does everything it can to minimise civilian casualties in its military operations, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday those efforts were “not successful”, calling any civilian death a tragedy.

With Palestinians now effectively cornered, the second stage in Israel’s military campaign is fraught with even more risks than the first. The United Nations estimates, based on Palestinian figures, about 400,000 displaced Gazans have moved south.

The senior Israeli security source said that the fighting in the south was expected to be tougher and more intense, with higher casualties on both sides. Khan Younis is a power base of Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, the source said.

In Khan Younis, 23-year-old Ahmed said that many Hamas fighters – known as the resistance – had survived the onslaught in the north. “They (the Israelis) want to come to the south? They can. The resistance will fight back because no one welcomes occupiers,” he said.

Assessing Israel’s gains till now, Eiland said he believed the IDF had dealt with “something like 50%” of Hamas’ military capacity.

But Hamas officials outside Gaza – who, given collapsing communications inside the enclave, are now the main voice of the Islamist group – insist that it is far from being a spent force.

“The resistance still believes that it is at the beginning of operations to confront the occupiers and emphasises the continuation of the confrontation,” Osama Hamdan, a Beirut-based Hamas official, told the Iranian news agency IRNA.Reuters Graphics

Complications In The South

As of Thursday, Israel’s military figures indicate more than 50 soldiers have been killed since the ground offensive began, compared with the 66 killed in its last major incursion in 2014.

“Khan Younis will be very hard because a lot of the terrorists fled there and are operational there,” said the senior Israeli security source, who declined to be identified, adding the southern campaign was likely to begin in earnest within days and could take a month to arrive at the Egyptian border.

The Israeli source and former officials said the concentration of people in the south meant a campaign of airstrikes was unlikely to be as intense as in the north.

They also said the military may seek to encourage civilians to head into U.N. encampments for safety.

But U.N. agencies say their Gaza operations are virtually paralysed by Israel’s blockade and their schools and other facilities are already full to bursting with the displaced.

Early in the conflict, Israel’s military urged displaced Palestinians to head to Al Mawasi, a sandy area with some orchards close to the southern coast. But it is vulnerable to flooding. Rains – some already torrential – have already begun.

Fleeing south into Egypt is not an option. Gaza’s Rafah crossing to Egypt, the only exit not leading to Israel, is firmly shut to everyone except for foreigners or dual citizens and patients in dire need Gaza’s hospitals shut down for lack of fuel.

Egypt and other Arab states – and even many in Gaza – say Palestinians should not leave for fear of repeating the dispossession faced by hundreds of thousands who fled across the border never to return when Israel was created in 1948.

But, even if the southern campaign requires a slower pace and three to four weeks to reach the same objectives as in the north, according to Eiland, Israel will be undeterred.

“I’m not sure that all foreigners understand the Israeli mood: Israel will not stop the operation before the hostages are back,” said Eiland.

Jordan minister doubts Israel can wipe out Hamas

Manama (Reuters) – Jordan’s foreign minister said on Saturday that he did not understand how Israel’s goal of obliterating the Palestinian militant group Hamas it is fighting in Gaza could be achieved.

“Israel says it wants to wipe out Hamas. There’s a lot of military people here, I just don’t understand how this objective can be realized,” said Ayman Safadi.

He warned Jordan would do “whatever it takes to stop” the displacement of Palestinians, amid heavy Israeli bombardment of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and other Islamist militants.

“We will never allow that to happen, in addition to it being a war crime, it would be a direct threat to our national security. We’ll do whatever it takes to stop it” said Safadi at the IISS Manama Dialogue security summit in Bahrain.

The Israel-Hamas war has reawakened long-standing fears in Jordan, home to a large population of Palestinian refugees and their descendants. They fear that Israel could expel Palestinians en masse from the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians have surged since Oct. 7 attack.

“This war is not taking us anywhere but towards more conflict, more suffering and the threat of expanding into regional wars,” said Safadi.