’22 deadliest for West Bank Palestinians since ’05

Israeli forces killed more Palestinians in the West Bank in 2022 than in any year since the United Nations began recording fatalities in 2005, after the last major Palestinian uprising.

The surging violence, experts warn, reflects a combustible mix of on-the-ground and generational changes — and could escalate further as Israel’s most far-right government, which includes Jewish supremacists who have incited violence against Palestinians, is sworn in Thursday.

Palestinian and Israeli rights groups and U.N. experts have blamed the bloodshed on Israel’s excessive use of force and open-fire rules during near-daily military operations, as well as rising assaults by settlers in the West Bank, where Palestinians live under Israeli occupation.

Israeli security forces killed 146 Palestinians in the West Bank and predominantly Palestinian East Jerusalem through Dec. 19, 2022, compared with 75 in 2021, according to figures provided by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Four more Palestinians in the West Bank were killed by Israeli settlers, the agency said.

Most of the Palestinians were killed during Israeli military raids and clashes in the West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus, according to the United Nations. More than half were under age 25. Among those killed were two U.S. citizens — Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and 78-year-old Omar Assad.

In a statement to The Washington Post, Israel’s military said “the vast majority of those killed by [Israel Defense Forces] fire … were involved in terrorist activity that posed a direct threat to human life.”

Israeli soldiers used live fire, the statement continued, in response to “violent riots, which often include explosive devices, Molotov cocktails and rocks hurled at Israel Defense soldiers and Israeli civilians.”

Attacks by Palestinians, including knife, bomb and shooting attacks in central Tel Aviv, downtown Jerusalem and West Bank settlements, killed 29 Israelis in 2022 — including soldiers and civilians — according to the country’s Foreign Affairs Ministry. Nineteen were killed by Palestinians from the West Bank, according to Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Many of the casualties in the West Bank this year were young Palestinians.

Also notable this year, analysts say, was the emergence of two new Palestinian militant groups — the Jenin Battalion and the Lions’ Den — both led by disaffected young men with local support networks, loyal online followings and easy access to arms.

Israel’s military declined to provide the number of internal investigations opened this year into potential misconduct related to Palestinian deaths.

In September, Israel announced that the death of Abu Akleh “was accidentally hit by IDF gunfire fired toward suspects identified as armed Palestinian gunmen during an exchange of fire,” though it has not released evidence showing the presence of gunmen in the area. An investigation by The Post contradicted the group’s claim that there was an exchange of fire in the minutes before Abu Akleh was killed.

The Israel Defense Forces said it would not pursue criminal charges against the soldiers.

Far-right Itamar Ben Gvir, scheduled to become Israel’s next national security minister, has proposed giving police and soldiers wider latitude to use live ammunition and shielding them from criminal prosecution for killing or injuring Palestinians.