Official: Murder rate in West Bank up 29% in 2022

The rate of murders committed in the occupied West Bank increased by 29 per cent in 2022 compared to last year. Forty-five people have been killed in separate incidents since the beginning of the year, Palestinian police spokesman, Louay Erzeigat, said yesterday.

The Wafa news agency quoted Erzeigat as saying that 45 Palestinians were killed in 39 crimes from the start of the year to September.

He added that the highest number of murders was recorded in the Hebron Governorate, while no crimes were recorded in the governorates of Jericho and Salfit.

The West Bank and the constant Israeli aggressions – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]

The Palestinian police and public prosecution were able to discover the circumstances surrounding 29 murders and arrest the perpetrators, Erzeigat said, pointing out that some of the perpetrators had mutilated their victims.

Erzeigat attributed the rise in the murder rate to the culture of violence promoted through some dangerous and violent electronic games, incitement to violence on social media, and the impunity enjoyed by some perpetrators due to family and clan cover.

This comes as the Preventive Security Service in Jenin Governorate announced that it had uncovered the circumstances surrounding the killing of a citizen in the town of Silat Al-Dhaher, south of Jenin.

The agency’s Public Relations and Media Department said the agency had seized the murder weapon and arrested the suspect who had been referred to the competent authorities to take legal action.

Earlier on Wednesday, Erzeigat said in a brief statement that the body of a murder victim had been killed was found in the Hebron area while Palestinian media reported that the dead man’s head had been completely severed from his body.

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