Muslim bloc OIC condemns escalating violence by illegal Israeli settlers in occupied West Bank

By Ahmed Asmar

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Friday condemned the escalating violence and crimes committed by illegal Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their properties in the occupied West Bank.

In a statement, OIC "strongly condemned the organized terrorism and daily crimes committed by extremist settler gangs, under the protection of Israeli occupation forces."

On Thursday evening, illegal Israeli settlers killed a Palestinian citizen, seriously injured another, and set fire to four homes and six vehicles owned by Palestinians during an incursion into the village of Jit in the West Bank, according to local media reports.

OIC said it considered these assaults as "part of the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, their land, and their holy sites, in blatant violation of international humanitarian law."

OIC held Israel "fully responsible for the consequences of the continued perpetration of these heinous crimes."

The Muslim bloc also called on the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, "to assume its responsibilities in ensuring the provision of international protection to the Palestinian people and to guarantee the immediate and comprehensive cessation of this ongoing Israeli aggression in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem."

Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have spiked since Oct. 7, according to Palestinian sources. At least 18 Palestinians have been killed and 785 injured in those attacks.

The methods employed by illegal settlers varied from firing live ammunition to beatings, stoning vehicles, and attacking homes, families, and farmers.

The overall death toll of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since Oct. 7 by the Israeli army and settlers reached 632, in addition to over 5,400 others injured, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

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

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar