UN Describes 2022 as ‘Deadliest Year’ in West Bank Since 2006

An Israeli soldier at one of the main entrances to Nablus in the West Bank (EPA)
An Israeli soldier at one of the main entrances to Nablus in the West Bank (EPA)
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UN Describes 2022 as ‘Deadliest Year’ in West Bank Since 2006

An Israeli soldier at one of the main entrances to Nablus in the West Bank (EPA)
An Israeli soldier at one of the main entrances to Nablus in the West Bank (EPA)

The UN described 2022 as the "deadliest year since 2006" in the West Bank due to the continuous increase in violence.

The UN Acting Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, Lucia Elmi, said that with the killing of at least 105 Palestinians, including 26 children, by the Israeli forces, 2022 has been the deadliest year since 2006, on a monthly average, for Palestinians residing in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The UN statement documented a 57 percent increase in the monthly average of Palestinian fatalities compared to last year.

The coordinator said that since October, 15 Palestinians, including six children, have been killed by the occupation forces in search-and-arrest operations, exchange of fire, or in confrontations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, often following settler attacks or incursions into Palestinian villages.

The UN official ruled out that the victims posed a concrete or imminent threat to justify lethal force, raising concerns about the excessive use of force.

Elmi emphasized that the United Nations is concerned about increasing movement restrictions. Earlier this month, after two Israeli soldiers were shot and killed at checkpoints in Nablus and East Jerusalem, Israeli forces imposed extensive movement restrictions, limiting access of many to health care, education, and livelihoods.

"In Shu'fat refugee camp, these restrictions have largely been lifted, but they remain in place in Nablus. Huwwara, one of Nablus city's only access points, has also seen an increase in the severity and frequency of settler violence."

On Wednesday, the Israeli forces continued its blockade on Nablus for the ninth day, aiming to deter a new armed group in the city known as the "Aren al-Usud" group, which Israel accuses of being responsible for shootings around the city in the past few weeks.

Israel imposed a tight siege on Nablus, and the Israeli army tightened its grip on the main Hawara checkpoint while continuing to close other checkpoints, such as Deir Sharaf.

Israel targets Nablus and Jenin, in the northern West Bank, as a center of activity for Palestinians who carry out operations in Israel. It carries out frequent incursions into the cities, killing the most significant number of Palestinians there this year.

Israel killed 172 in all Palestinian territories this year, including 121 in the West Bank and 51 in the Gaza Strip, and injured over 800, including severe injuries to the head and chest.



UN Chief: Palestinians in Gaza Enduring Humanitarian Catastrophe of Epic Proportions

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, near Gaza City, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, 29 July 2025. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, near Gaza City, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, 29 July 2025. (EPA)
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UN Chief: Palestinians in Gaza Enduring Humanitarian Catastrophe of Epic Proportions

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, near Gaza City, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, 29 July 2025. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, near Gaza City, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, 29 July 2025. (EPA)

A trickle of aid into the Gaza Strip must become an ocean, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.

“Food, water, medicine and fuel must flow in waves and without obstruction,” he said, describing an alert by a global hunger monitor on Tuesday as confirming “what we have feared: Gaza is on the brink of famine.”

“Palestinians in Gaza are enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. This is not a warning. It is a reality unfolding before our eyes,” he said in a statement.

A worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding in Gaza and immediate action is needed to end fighting and allow unimpeded aid access, a global hunger monitor warned on Tuesday, saying failure to act now would result in widespread death.

Its alert coincided with a statement from Gaza health authorities saying Israel's military campaign had now killed more than 60,000 Palestinians.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) raised the prospect that the manmade starvation crisis could be formally classified as a famine, in the hope that this might raise the pressure on Israel to let far more food deliveries in.

"Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths," the IPC said.

It added that it would quickly carry out the formal analysis that could allow it to classify Gaza as "in famine".