'Settlers violence reflects Zionist brutality' [Ralph Schoenman © PressTV]

Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) has increased sharply since 2009, says a group of UN agencies and NGOs.

"Last year, the number of settler attacks resulting in Palestinian casualties and property damage increased by more than a third; since 2009 it increased by nearly 150 percent," said a July 11 joint statement issued by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), the Palestinian NGO Al-Haq and the Israeli NGOs Yesh Din and B'Tselem.

Illegal Israeli settlers often assault the Palestinians or vandalize their properties in the occupied territories.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

Press TV has conducted an interview with Ralph Schoenman, author, "Hidden History of Zionism", from Berkeley.