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Transnational Thursday for July 4, 2024

Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.

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With international attention now focused on Biden and the UK election, Israel has announced the seizure of nearly five square miles of land in the West Bank, their largest land grab since the 1993 Oslo accords and their third such seizure this year. Although the decision to seize the land was made last month, it was not publicized until yesterday. Israeli settlers have committed more than 1,000 attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank since October.

Can I ask what is your source for the last sentence more than 1,000 settler attacks against Palestinians? Given the Israeli military responses since October how do they define 'settler attacks', is this lynchings?

My source was the Associated Press, which cited the UN. Looking into it, they appear to be relying on the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which reports that

Between 7 October and 1 July, OCHA recorded 1,050 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, of which 107 led to Palestinian fatalities and injuries, 828 led to damage to Palestinian property and 115 led to both casualties and damage to property. In this period, over 45,600 Palestinian-owned trees and saplings were destroyed by people known or believed to be Israeli settlers.

The UN unofficially considers the dissolution of Israel to be one of its core missions. The above may have actually happened in some form, but there's no reason to consider UN reporting on anything related to Israel any more reliable than the white house's statement's on Biden's mental state.