A new study based on an analysis of a decade of data has pointed out the staggering scale of conflict-related harm endured by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and a stark imbalance in the toll of violence across the region.
From May 2014 to June 2024, Palestinians suffered 69,312 casualties, including 1,092 deaths and 68,220 injuries, compared to 4,118 casualties among Israelis, according to the study published in PLOS Global Public Health.
The decade-long analysis is based on multiple publicly available datasets documenting violence, demolitions, and related incidents across the West Bank and Israel. Key sources include verified humanitarian records from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
According to the study, Palestinians were 5.7 times more likely to be killed and more than 16 times more likely to be injured than Israelis, whether in Israel or the West Bank.
The vast majority of Palestinian casualties — an estimated 99.8 percent — were unarmed civilians.
In contrast, over half the Israelis who were injured or killed were either confirmed members of the security forces or individuals whose status, civilian or combatant, could not be verified.
This raises further concerns that Israeli casualties were more often linked to combat roles, whereas Palestinian casualties were overwhelmingly civilian, demonstrating an imbalance in who is more exposed to lethal force.
The risk was even greater for Palestinians living in refugee camps. Death rates in these areas were eight times higher than in non-camp communities, underlining the vulnerability of densely populated regions.
The findings are echoed by reports from Doctors Without Borders, which documented repeated Israeli military raids in West Bank camps that destroyed essential infrastructure, such as water networks and roads, and often obstructed ambulance access to the wounded.
The combination of systemic neglect, targeted violence, and restricted emergency care helps explain the disproportionate toll.
The findings add urgency to calls for enhanced civilian protections and international accountability measures in the West Bank, particularly in areas like refugee camps where the risks are most acute.
Human rights organisations and medical NGOs have long warned that without meaningful intervention, from legal accountability mechanisms to guarantees of humanitarian access, Palestinians are left to endure the consequences of a system that offers little protection amid ongoing military operations.
The new data-backed evidence reinforces these warnings and raises pressing questions for the international community.
Who uses force, and how: A breakdown of attacks
Another finding that needs to be highlighted from the 2014-2024 study is that the Israeli military forces were responsible for the overwhelming majority of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank over the past decade.
Of the 69,000-plus Palestinian casualties recorded between 2014 and 2024, 92.7 percent were caused by Israeli forces, while 2.2 percent were linked to Israeli civilians.
The study also noted a surge in violence perpetrated by Israeli civilians in 2024, when such attacks reached a peak of 11.4 percent.
In July 2023, Israel launched its largest military incursion into the occupied West Bank in over two decades, targeting the Jenin refugee camp.
The two-day operation involved at least 10 drone strikes and between 1,000 and 2,000 ground troops, accompanied by armoured bulldozers and rooftop snipers. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at least eight Palestinians were killed and 50 others injured, 10 critically.
Israeli settler attacks escalated in the summer of 2023 in places like Huwara and Turmus Ayya in the West Bank, where entire neighborhoods were torched in what UN officials called “pogrom-style” assaults, often carried out with impunity.
As for the types of weapons, tear gas exposure accounted for over half (56.4 percent) of all documented Palestinian injuries, followed by rubber bullets (19.4 percent) and live ammunition (10.3 percent).
Of the 72,853 cases recorded, many occurred during demonstrations: nearly half of all Palestinian casualties (49.3 percent) were linked to protests.
Israeli casualties, on the other hand, were primarily reported during periods of armed conflict, not civilian protest.
This contrast points out the militarised response Palestinians often face, even in non-combat settings, and the growing use of force in densely populated civilian areas.
Palestinians, particularly those who reside in the occupied West Bank, faced routine exposure to force during everyday civilian life, including protests and military raids.
The sharp rise in settler-led attacks and the normalisation of heavy weaponry in densely populated areas reflect a deepening pattern of impunity and erosion of civilian protections.
Geographical and structural impact
The same data from 2014 to 2024 also reveals that Jenin and Nablus were the most affected regions in the West Bank, recording the highest numbers of Palestinian deaths and injuries.
Although nominally under PA control, both areas have become flashpoints of Israeli military activity and are routinely targeted in raids and armed incursions. The PA’s limited enforcement capacity is claimed to have contributed to a security vacuum in the zones that Israeli officials often cite to justify repeated military operations.
Framed as counterterrorism efforts, these actions are carried out in what many observers describe as ungoverned or contested spaces, further stoking instability.
In terms of structural impact, East Jerusalem’s Jabal al-Mukkabir stood out as the most affected community, with 311 recorded demolition activities.
Demolitions of Palestinian homes and structures, often accompanied by settler violence that contributes to civilian displacement, were heavily concentrated in Area C and East Jerusalem, both of which are under full Israeli control. In contrast, significantly fewer such incidents were recorded in Areas A and B, which fall under varying degrees of Palestinian Authority (PA) governance.
This pattern reflects the territorial framework established under the 1993 Oslo Accords, which divided the West Bank into three administrative zones.
The PA exercises full control in Area A and manages civil affairs in Area B, while Israel retains total authority over Area C, which makes up approximately 60 per cent of the West Bank.
Although Area C was originally slated for gradual transfer to PA control, that handover never occurred, which left Palestinian communities there particularly exposed to displacement and property loss.
A similar pattern is seen again in Jenin, in Area A, where repeated Israeli raids have left key infrastructure in ruins. Roads damaged by bulldozers remain unrepaired as the PA, facing a deep financial crisis, lacks the funds.
Jenin’s mayor, Nidal Obeidi, told Reuters in 2024 that the refugee camp alone suffered $15 million in damage to water, sewage, and power systems, and the repairs were stalled due to donor cuts and withheld tax revenues.
Overall, the findings from the decade-long study present a sobering picture of life under occupation in the West Bank, where violence is not only widespread but unevenly applied.
Civilian harm, infrastructural destruction, and spatial inequality remain deeply embedded in the daily realities of Palestinian communities.
As casualty rates surge and essential services collapse in areas with limited PA control, the data raises an urgent question: In a landscape where civilian lives are systematically exposed, what remains of the promise of protection under international law?
