Amnesty International voices concern over Israeli military operation in West Bank

By Merve Berker

ANKARA (AA) – Human rights group Amnesty International expressed concern Wednesday over Israel’s latest military operation in the occupied West Bank.

Amnesty’s senior director, Erika Guevara-Rosas, highlighted in a written statement the sharp rise in unlawful killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces, citing the deaths of at least 622 Palestinians, including 142 children, since October last year.

“Ongoing military operations on this scale will undoubtedly lead to an escalation in deadly violence, resulting in further loss of Palestinian lives,” the group warned.

“It is likely that these operations will result in an increase in forced displacement, destruction of critical infrastructure and measures of collective punishment, which have been key pillars of Israel’s system of apartheid against Palestinians and of its unlawful occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the statement said.

Amnesty also expressed concern over reports of Israeli forces blocking access to hospitals, urging Israel to protect health facilities and ensure medical care for those in need

It emphasized that as the occupying power, Israel has a duty to safeguard Palestinian lives, homes and infrastructure.

This latest operation follows documented patterns of violence, including lethal force against protesters, the denial of medical assistance, and a surge in state-backed settler attacks, the statement noted.

Amnesty stressed that arbitrary detentions and the suppression of Palestinian dissent have also intensified under the ongoing occupation.

Earlier, the Israeli army launched a major military operation in the northern West Bank, the largest in two decades.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the operation includes the “temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents" from areas in the northern West Bank.

At least 10 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the operation, according to the latest figures released by the Health Ministry.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank amid a brutal Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 40,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7 last year.

At least 660 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 5,400 others injured in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian figures.

In a landmark opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land unlawful and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.