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The development follows \u201cat least four\u201d airstrikes by the Israeli Security Forces (ISF) in the Nur Shams Refugee Camp in Tulkarem on Monday night that left five dead \u2013 three Palestinian men and two boys aged 13 and 15.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree of the fatalities, including the two boys, were killed while they were passing by the targeted house,<\/strong> which was located in one of the small and crammed alleyways in the camp,\u201d OHCHR said in a statement, citing multiple sources.<\/p>\n The UN office warned that situation in the Occupied West Bank \u201ccould worsen dramatically if ISF continue to systematically use unlawful lethal force<\/strong> and ignore violence perpetrated by settlers\u201d.<\/p>\n The latest confirmed toll from the UN rights office indicates that 628 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank <\/strong>between 7 October \u2013 the date of the Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel that sparked the war – and 27 August.<\/p>\n \u201cOf these, 609 Palestinians were killed by ISF, 11 killed by settlers and eight either by ISF or settlers in joint attacks. However, 159 of those killed, including 29 boys and three women, died as a result of airstrikes,\u201d OHCHR said in an update.<\/p>\n Condemning the Israeli forces\u2019 \u201cincreasingly military response\u201d in the West Bank, OHCHR maintained that its operations violated international humanitarian law.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ISF use of airstrikes and other military weapons and tactics violates these standards and is resulting in extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings and destruction of Palestinian homes and infrastructure,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n Palestinians have also been targeted elsewhere in the West Bank including late on Monday evening when dozens of armed Israeli settlers attacked Wadi Rahal village in Bethlehem.<\/p>\n One victim of the violence, 37-year-old Khalil Salem Khlawi, was \u201cshot in the back and killed\u201d \u2013 allegedly by armed settlers or army reservists.<\/p>\n Settlers also reportedly shot and injured three other Palestinian men and prevented Palestinian ambulances from reaching the injured, OHCHR said.<\/p>\n It cited sources who asserted that the ISF \u201cstood by observing until the man was killed, and only later dispersed the settlers, without arresting any of them<\/strong>\u201d. According to Israeli media, ISF stated that their reservists opened fire and hit several Palestinians.<\/p>\n Mr. Khlawi\u2019s killing \u201cis not an isolated incident and is a direct consequence of Israel\u2019s policy of settlement of the Occupied West Bank, in violation of international law, accompanied by ISF complicity and the prevailing environment of impunity\u201d, OHCHR insisted.<\/p>\n As part of its work in the OPT, the UN human rights office documents daily settler attacks on Palestinians, \u201cincluding settlers physically assaulting Palestinians, setting fire or damaging their property and crops, stealing sheep, blocking them from accessing their land, water and grazing areas and forcing them to leave their homes and lands\u201d.<\/p>\n OHCHR noted that the longstanding trend of settler attacks on Palestinians has \u201cdramatically escalated\u201d since 7 October with the support of \u201cthe highest levels\u201d of government.<\/p>\n \u201cDespite the announcement of investigations, following some instances of settler violence, and the sporadic arrests of alleged perpetrators, no settler has been indicted since 7 October on charges related to settler violence<\/strong>,\u201d the UN rights office noted.<\/p>\nMultiple raids, settler violence<\/strong><\/h2>\n