Israeli Settlers versus Palestinians: Violence Escalates in the West Bank
In the West Bank, there have once again been fatalities in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli settlers: five people were killed. Israel's Finance Minister Smotrich is demanding that villages must be "cleansed of terrorists."
Shock and grief at a hospital in Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank: a young woman weeps over her killed father, who lies on a stretcher. He is one of four Palestinians killed south of the city; four others were wounded. There are conflicting accounts of what happened.
A video circulating on social media shows a loud scuffle between Palestinian and Israeli civilians, the latter partially armed. An Israeli soldier is also visible.
Shots are fired, and an Israeli settler advances on a Palestinian with his weapon raised. The Palestinian wrests the weapon from him and shoots him. Soldiers and settlers then open fire on the Palestinians. In the end, five people die. The dead Israeli is a man from a nearby settlement.
Settlers Said to Have Attacked Houses
The Israeli army spoke of a group of hikers who had been in the area. This account is open to doubt when one hears the reports from Palestinians in the village of Tell, where the incident took place. It is reported that settlers had previously attacked two buildings there, and that Palestinians had defended themselves.
Khaled Abed describes the current situation to the ARD studio in Tel Aviv: "The occupation forces are spread throughout the entire area and have sealed off the village entrances. They are making demands — they are the settlers' demands — because they want to take possession of the bodies. We are currently at the hospital, where the bodies are; however, we cannot bury them. If we were to go to the village, the army would seize the bodies by force."
Tell is also said to be completely sealed off, with a massive deployment of occupation forces.
Smotrich: "Villages Must Be Cleansed of Terrorists"
Settler attacks were also subsequently reported from the nearby village of Jet. Yamal Yamin, the head of the local council, said: "The settlers are attacking Jet from the southern part of the village, and the young men are trying to defend and protect the houses and the people. But they cannot stop them, because the settlers vastly outnumber them and are protected by the army."
The Israeli army has deployed additional troops to the area, and Nablus, a major city, along with surrounding villages, has been sealed off.
Israeli settler attacks in the West Bank occur repeatedly: in the occupied town of Beit Furik, they set agricultural land on fire.
Further acts of revenge are to be expected, particularly given the words of Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's Finance Minister and the minister responsible for the settlements: "These villages of terrorists, from which terror emerges again and again, they must look the same as the refugee camps in Nablus and Tulkarem," says Smotrich.
The population must be evacuated from there, for their "own protection," and then these villages must be cleansed of "terror infrastructure and terrorists" in order to restore deterrence and security there. "Beyond that, I will demand from the Prime Minister the establishment of a new settlement," the minister said.
Settlers refuse to back down
Recently, however, terror has predominantly come from Jewish settlers. Acts of violence are reported almost daily from across the West Bank, which Israel occupies in violation of international law. According to reports, 21 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year. Israeli security forces often stand by or are involved in the acts, which are as a rule not prosecuted under criminal law.
Israel Gantz, head of the local regional council of settlers, stated what the incident near Nablus means for him: "We are determined not to back down. The settlements in Samaria and throughout Israel: we will only grow stronger, we will build even more here, we will never back down."
There is an expectation of the government and military leadership to carry out a large military operation there: "The signal must be sent that the owner, meaning Israel, is losing patience and will not tolerate this wave of terror," said settler Gantz.
The signs in the West Bank thus point toward escalation.
