Shin Bet: Settler violence will inflame the West Bank and harm war efforts
Israel killed 4 Palestinians in a new attack on the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, on Monday, and a fifth Palestinian in Hebron in the southern West Bank, while a Palestinian attacked an Israeli policeman in Jerusalem and stabbed him several times, in a new escalation that reinforced fears of a flare-up on the West Bank front, something the security apparatus warned against. The Israeli Shin Bet.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that Amir Sharbaji (25 years old), Nawras Bajawi (28 years old), Wiam Al-Hanoun (27 years old), and Musa Jabareen (23 years old) were killed in the Israeli aggression against the city of Jenin and its camp, while 9 other citizens were injured.
The Israeli army stormed the Jenin camp before being confronted by gunmen, and violent clashes broke out in the camp, during which the Israeli army used drones to bomb the militants, a procedure that has become common in the past few weeks. The Israeli army said that it stormed the camp to attack one of the armed Palestinian cells. In Hebron, the army killed a young man while suppressing a student march at the entrance to Yatta, south of Hebron.
The Ministry of Health announced that the young man, Fouad Ismail Abu Subha (23 years old), from the town of Yatta, south of Hebron, was killed by occupation bullets, and dozens suffered from suffocation as a result of inhaling poisonous gas.
Israeli soldiers in the West Bank (AFP)
Escalation in the West Bank
Israel has escalated in the West Bank since October 7, when Hamas fighters surprised Israel with Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” and killed 1,400 in the areas surrounding the Strip, before Israel launched a relentless war in the Gaza Strip, in which it killed more than 9,000. Palestinians, and 20,000 were wounded.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that Israel has killed 122 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7, and wounded another 2,050 Palestinians. Israel mainly fears the escalation of tensions in the West Bank, with the prolongation of the war in Gaza, and therefore it raised the alert, closed the West Bank completely, and turned it into ghettos, after besieging the cities and villages with iron gates, cement blocks, and dirt barriers, and tightened its measures at closed military checkpoints at all times. .
However, on Monday, a Palestinian attacked an Israeli policeman in Jerusalem with a knife, before another policeman critically injured him with bullets.
The police spokesman said, “On Monday, an East Jerusalem resident armed with a knife arrived at the Mandelbaum gas station in Jerusalem, stabbed a soldier in the upper part of his body, seized his weapon, then tried to shoot without success, and then fled the scene.” . Border Guard soldiers followed the suspect and neutralized him with gunfire.
A demonstration in the city of Nablus in the West Bank on Thursday in solidarity with the people of Gaza (AFP)
High tension in the West Bank
Israeli paramedics confirmed that the Israeli soldier was transported with serious stab wounds to the upper part of his body.
The Palestinian attack came at a tense time when Israel continues its attack on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and kills more Palestinians in a war in which settlers in the West Bank participate. Settlers killed at least 6 Palestinians in the West Bank, after their unprecedented arming since October 7, a development that raised concerns among Israeli intelligence.
The Shin Bet Security Service warned of an outbreak of violence in the West Bank, with an increase in settler violence and clashes with Palestinians amid the ongoing war in Gaza. Channel 12 reported that the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, warned the War Council, the broader government, and the army establishment about the issue. The United States and France also warned that the situation in the West Bank had reached a boiling point.
The report quoted Israeli sources as saying: “These events are likely to lead to a fire in the region” and harm the war effort against “Hamas.” Channel 12 said that some Israeli decision-makers are urging the extreme right-wing ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir to “take responsibility and calm things down.”
Families of Palestinian prisoners in Ramallah in the West Bank demand their release, expressing their solidarity with the residents of Gaza on October 22, 2023 (AFP)
A defense of settler violence
The two ministers have defended settler violence as self-defense in the past and have resisted taking action against it.
According to Channel 13, Bar and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy addressed the issue of settler violence in the war cabinet on Saturday.
It was also pointed out that the step taken by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to distribute weapons widely into the hands of Jews against the backdrop of the Hamas attack and its disastrous consequences on Israeli society, in addition to the atmosphere of revenge, contributed to strengthening the feeling that everything is available and that this is the golden opportunity to pounce. Arabs living in neighboring villages.
Defense Minister Yoav Galant reportedly responded that “the phenomenon is well known. “We need to make sure the area doesn’t catch fire.” Gallant said that most of the violence is committed by people who do not live in the settlements.
The Israeli Yesh Din organization said on Monday that more than 100 incidents of violence and attacks by settlers against Palestinians have occurred in at least 62 Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank since the Hamas attack on October 7.
Earlier, US President Joe Biden criticized Israel for not curbing settler violence, while continuing to support the military operations it is carrying out in Gaza against the Hamas movement, adding that the violence “adds fuel to the fire.”
Biden urged Netanyahu during phone calls in recent days to ensure that Israeli authorities prevent increasing incidents of settler violence, fearing that rising tensions in the West Bank could significantly worsen the current war in Gaza.
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2023-10-31 01:08:47
