Deadly assault in West Bank, heavily restricted UN’s humanitarian aid operations – Highlights of the noon briefing by Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General – 28 August 2024

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OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY

Turning to the West Bank, the Spokesman said we have been following the developments since this morning with great concern and are very worried about what we are seeing.

Out humanitarian colleagues at OCHA are warning that people there are increasingly exposed to deadly warfare tactics that seem to exceed international standards for law enforcement.

Today, at least nine Palestinians, including children, were killed, and others injured, in the governorates of Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas – located west of the Jordan Valley. The operations involved Israeli helicopters, drones, and ground forces.

Most of the people killed were killed hit by airstrikes, while others were subject to sniper fire and other lethal methods. Military bulldozers have been observed destroying infrastructure, with initial indications that damage has been caused to roads and electricity equipment. This resulted in a power outage across the Jenin refugee camp.

Israeli forces also conducted operations in close proximity to four hospitals – two in Jenin and two in Tulkarm.

Hospitals have been surrounded and all movement in and out of those facilities have been affected, particularly medical teams.

To put this in context, since October 7th, more than 630 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Over 140 of them were killed in about 50 airstrikes, up from six fatalities in airstrikes in 2023 before October 7th. Most of the fatalities in this period were killed by Israeli forces but at least 11 were killed by settlers.  During the same period, 15 Israelis, including nine members of Israeli forces and five settlers, were killed by Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. And in Israel, attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank resulted in the killing of ten Israelis and seven Palestinian perpetrators.

Our human rights colleagues remind us that, in the West Bank, Israeli forces must adhere to international policing standards, where lethal force and firearms are a last resort that can only be used against imminent threats of death or serious injury.

Turning to Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warn that humanitarian operations are still heavily restricted by hostilities, insecurity, and mass evacuation orders affecting aid transport routes and facilities.

Despite these challenges, we and our partners continue to work.

And I also want to flag that yesterday evening, a clearly marked UN humanitarian vehicle – part of a convoy that had been fully coordinated with the IDF – was struck 10 times by IDF gunfire – including with bullets targeting front windows. The two staff members in the vehicle were thankfully unharmed. This shows you I think, we had a senior colleague talk to you about the need for armoured cars and this is clearly why, it saved the lives of our two colleagues.

This is the latest incident to underscore that systems in place for coordination are not working; we continue to work with the IDF to ensure that incidents like that do not happen again.

We reiterate that parties must respect international humanitarian law at all times. This means that civilians must be protected, and their essential needs – including food, water, shelter and health – must be met, wherever they may be in Gaza. This applies to those under evacuation orders regardless of whether they move or not. And, those who leave must have enough time to do so, as well as a safe route and safe places.

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