Over 2,000 Israeli attacks on Palestinians in January: CWRC

Shafaq News/ Israeli forces and settlers carried out 2,161 attacks across the occupied West Bank in January, the Palestinian Colonization & Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC) revealed on Monday.
In its monthly report on “Israeli Violations and Settlement Expansion,” the commission’s head, Minister Moayyad Shaaban, said Israeli forces were responsible for 1,786 of these incidents, while settlers carried out 375 attacks. The highest number of violations occurred in Hebron (358), followed by Ramallah (342) and Nablus (328).
The report detailed armed settler raids on Palestinian villages, summary executions, land bulldozing, tree uprooting, property seizures, and military closures that further fragment the West Bank. It noted that settler violence was particularly concentrated in Ramallah and Al-Bireh (105 incidents), Nablus (76), Hebron (55), and Qalqilya (31).
Settlers also carried out 318 acts of vandalism and theft, uprooting 969 trees—960 of which were olive trees—mainly in Hebron, Bethlehem, Salfit, Nablus, and Ramallah.
Demolitions and Displacement
According to the report, the Israeli authorities demolished 76 structures in January, targeting 126 properties, including 74 inhabited homes, four uninhabited houses, and 29 agricultural facilities. Jenin was the most affected, with 47 demolitions, followed by Jerusalem (14), Qalqilya (11), and both Bethlehem and Nablus (10 each).
Additionally, Israeli forces issued demolition orders for 131 more structures, predominantly in Hebron (66), Bethlehem (45), and Ramallah (10).
The report noted that settlers attempted to establish 10 new outposts, primarily agricultural and grazing sites, with four in Tubas, three in Nablus, and one each in Qalqilya, Ramallah, and Bethlehem.
Meanwhile, Israeli authorities seized 262 dunams of Palestinian land, mainly in northern Jerusalem, for the expansion of a settler road connecting settlements to the Qalandiya checkpoint, tightening Israeli control over the area.
Major Settlement Plans
“Israeli authorities reviewed 31 new settlement plans in January, aiming to expand settlements across the West Bank and Jerusalem by constructing 943 housing units on 9,881 dunams of Palestinian land,” the report added.
The plans include converting vast agricultural areas inside settlements into residential zones, “signaling intensified efforts to solidify Israeli control.”
In Jerusalem, authorities approved the construction of 3,512 housing units on 441 dunams and designated additional areas for industrial expansion within settlements.
Additionally, Israel announced its intention to legalize the “Mitzpe Kramim” outpost, built on land belonging to Deir Jarir village near Ramallah, despite Palestinian legal efforts to challenge its existence.
Restricted Movement and Fragmentation
Shaaban warned that Israel is working to turn the West Bank into “isolated, fragmented enclaves by intensifying military checkpoints, gates, and settlement walls,” pointing out that The number of Israeli military checkpoints and gates across the West Bank has reached 912, while the separation wall extends over 700 kilometers, making movement between cities and even neighboring villages increasingly difficult.
Escalating Violence
Shaaban said “settler attacks, carried out under the protection of Israeli forces, have moved beyond individual assaults to a level of organized terror backed by the Israeli establishment.”
“These violations are designed to displace Palestinians from their land, while international silence and complicity enable Israel to continue its colonial expansion,” he said.
He called on the international community to take responsibility and pressure Israel to halt settlement policies that violate international law and threaten any future political resolution to the conflict.