Palestinian Ambassador Calls 2022 Deadliest in the Last Seven Years: 230 Residents Killed and 9.353 Injured

JAKARTA - 2022 is said to be the deadliest year in the last seven years for Palestinians, with 230 deaths, said the Palestinian envoy in Ankara, Tuesday, warning that the escalation is expected to continue this year, reflecting 13 people have been killed, including children since the beginning of January.

"2022 is not a cold and peaceful year, but a bloody hot year, in which the suffering of our people and nation has intensified," said Palestinian Ambassador to Turkey Faed Mustafa, quoted from Daily Sabah, January 16.

Furthermore, in a press conference entitled '2023: The Year of the Great Challenges Facing the State of Palestine under the right-wing government of Israel', Faed Mustafa said that 171 Palestinians killed in the West Bank last year and 59 in the blockaded Gaza Strip, a total of 230, were " the highest number of deaths in seven years."

Israeli soldiers and settlers are said to have also injured 9.353 other Palestinians, while more than 6.500 were detained, including about 5.000 who are still languishing in Israeli prisons, he added.

Not only that, he continued, more than 830 houses and other facilities were destroyed, more than 13.000 olive trees were damaged and uprooted, and more than 13.000 settlement units had been built in the West Bank.

The Palestinian diplomat revealed that there were more than 262 attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque by around 48.000 extremists who were protected by Israeli forces.

Regarding Israel's new government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ambassador Mustafa warned, this is the most extreme government.

"This will be a bloody year as we have seen in this short period," he said, referring to the deaths of 13 Palestinians since the start of the month.

On this occasion, he also revealed, the Israeli government continued to "hold the bodies of 118 Palestinian martyrs" and had buried more than 256 bodies which they refused to hand over to the families.

Condemning Israel's right-wing Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir's visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, he also said Israel is starting to expand its illegal settlements.

"We direct our message to our partners in the international community. It is not enough to denounce and condemn the Israeli government," he said, calling for "decisions that help end injustice against Palestinians."