Settler and military violence driving mental health crisis in West Bank
Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, has warned relentless violence by Israelis from illegal settlements and the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank is leaving deep psychological scars on Palestinians.
In a statement, the medical aid agency said more than 85 percent of homes in some villages have been demolished, while residents face near-daily assaults, blocked roads and destruction of clinics and mosques.
MSF said children are suffering from nightmares and panic attacks, while adults face serious trauma. In June alone, 94 percent of new mental health cases seen by the group were directly linked to violent incidents.
It accused Israeli forces of enabling and sometimes participating in the violence, and called on the international community to stop what it described as “a policy of forced displacement”.
Israeli forces torching homes in Nur Shams is a ‘systematic crime’
Abdullah Kamil, governor of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank, has condemned the Israeli army’s “deliberate, systematic” burning of Palestinian homes in the Nur Shams refugee camp.
The arson attacks are meant to terrorise residents and force their displacement, he said.
In a statement carried by the Wafa news agency, Kamil said Israeli troops set fire to two more homes overnight, citing camp residents who reported soldiers in the area moments before the blazes began.
Kamil called the attacks a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and urged the UN, human-rights groups and the wider international community to intervene immediately and hold Israeli forces accountable.
Continued silence, he said, would amount to complicity in acts that “rise to the level of war crimes”.
Palestinian injured in settler attack near Hebron
A Palestinian man sustained wounds after Israelis from illegal settlements attacked homes in the village of al-Rakeez, part of the Masafer Yatta area, in the occupied West Bank.
Activist Osama Makhamra told the Wafa news agency that settlers from a nearby illegal outpost – built on privately owned Palestinian land east of Yatta – stormed the village under the protection of Israeli forces and assaulted residents.
One man from the al-Amour family suffered bruises and injuries as a result.
Israeli forces detained several residents and fired live rounds, stun grenades and tear gas during the raid.
