Police Intervene Following Theft of 50 Sheep from Settler Outpost
The statement said police had intervened after receiving a report regarding the theft of 50 sheep from Zohar’s farm – a settler outpost run by Zohar Sabah, an Israeli targeted in November by United States sanctions against settlers involved in acts of violence.
Trump Administration Reverses Biden-Era Sanctions on Settlers
The sanctions introduced by the administration of former President Joe Biden were cancelled by President Donald Trump on his return to power.
“Police and [Israeli] forces began searching for the flock and arrived at a Bedouin encampment near the Palestinian village of Auja, where they located the [settler’s] stolen flock,” the Israeli police statement said.
“The Palestinian suspect was arrested and taken for interrogation, where he admitted to the act,” it added.
OCHA said that according to eyewitnesses, “settlers physically assaulted and injured a Palestinian man, stole approximately 1400 livestock, killed 12 goats, and damaged at least three houses and several solar panels”.
The Palestinian man injured during the confrontation was “restrained by Israeli police while settlers beat him,” the UN office added.
Israel’s Occupation of the West Bank Since 1967
Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.
Excluding annexed east Jerusalem, the territory is home to nearly three million Palestinians and around 490,000 Israelis who live in settlements considered illegal under international law.
UN Rights Chief Condemns Israeli Settlements as War Crime
“The transfer by Israel of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies amounts to a war crime,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Israel must immediately and completely cease all settlement activities and evacuate all settlers, stop the forcible transfer of the Palestinian population, and prevent and punish attacks by its security forces and settlers,” he added.
His comments came as his office released a new report on the situation in the West Bank between October 2023 and last November.
“The line between settler and state violence [has] blurred to a vanishing point, further enabling an increase in violence and impunity”, the report said.
OCHA said that Israeli settlers in February bulldozed an area of Ras Ein al Auja to build a road connecting two settlement outposts.
“From Masafer Yatta in the south to the northern Jordan Valley in the north, there is not a single square metre safe from settler attacks,” said Zayed.
“The main goal is to displace people,” he added.
Rising Violence and Annexation Calls in the West Bank Amid Gaza War
Throughout the Gaza war, violence in the West Bank – a separate Palestinian territory – has soared, as have calls to annex it, most notably from Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Since early last year, the territory has seen a string of attacks by Palestinians on Israeli targets, as well as violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities.
Since the start of the war in October 2023, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 911 Palestinians, including many militants, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Palestinian attacks and clashes during military raids have killed at least 32 Israelis over the same period, according to official figures.
-Agence France-Presse
