2026-02-06T08:56:59+00:00
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Shafaq News- West Bank
Nearly 700 Palestinians have been displaced across nine
communities in the West Bank since the beginning of 2026 due to Israeli settler
attacks, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), with the largest single displacement affecting the
Ras Ein al ‘Auja Bedouin community in the Jordan Valley.
In its Humanitarian Situation Update, issued on February 5,
OCHA said that between January 20 and February 2, Israeli forces killed three
Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, among them one child.
During the same period, 111 Palestinians were injured, including 12 children.
Of those injured, 78 were wounded by Israeli forces and 33 by Israeli settlers.
OCHA also documented injuries to three Israelis, including one injured by
Palestinians and two Israeli activists pepper-sprayed by settlers.
OCHA reported that Israeli forces carried out at least 130
raids and search operations across the West Bank during the same reporting
period, expanding large-scale military operations beyond the northern
governorates into central and southern areas, including Qalandiya refugee camp
and Kafr Aqab in the Jerusalem governorate. These operations involved “mass
detentions, temporary home evacuations, and movement restrictions.”
Between January 20 and February 2, Israeli authorities also
demolished 69 Palestinian-owned structures for lacking Israeli-issued building
permits. The demolished structures included 22 residences, 32 agricultural and
livelihood structures, and 15 water, sanitation, and other facilities. Ten of
the demolished structures had been provided as humanitarian assistance.
As a result of these demolitions, 131 Palestinians were
displaced, including 74 children, with 32 displaced in East Jerusalem and 99 in
Area C. Since January 1, Israeli authorities have demolished or forced the
demolition of 101 structures across the West Bank, including 33 homes,
displacing 184 people, 98 of whom were children. OCHA noted that in 2025, more
than 1,700 Palestinians were displaced due to lack-of-permit demolitions, the
highest annual total recorded since systematic documentation began in 2009.
OCHA also documented at least 52 settler attacks between
January 20 and February 2 that resulted in casualties, property damage, or
both. These attacks injured 42 Palestinians, including four children, and
displaced 134 people, all in herding communities in the Jordan Valley area.
Most incidents occurred in Nablus and Ramallah governorates, while nearly half
of Palestinian injuries were recorded in southern Hebron governorate,
particularly in Masafer Yatta.
Repeated settler attacks on water infrastructure in the Ein
Samiya area east of Ramallah further disrupted the primary water source for
about 20 villages and a partial source for additional communities, impacting an
estimated 100,000 Palestinians across eastern Ramallah governorate.
OCHA said that since the beginning of 2026, a total of 694
Palestinians, including about 350 children, have been displaced due to settler
attacks and access restrictions, affecting nine villages and herding
communities. January 2026 marked the second-highest single-month displacement
since the October 2023 peak, with displacement due to settler violence
exceeding the total recorded for all of 2024 and accounting for more than 40
percent of the total displacement recorded in 2025.
