Despite recent negotiations, clashes between Palestinians and Israeli settlers have killed several people in recent days, triggering a harsh response from the Jewish state.
A new deadly outbreak in the occupied West Bank. In this territory administered by the State of Israel, the situation remains very tense after the death of two settlers on Sunday 26 February. A punitive expedition was carried out there and demonstrations for peace and an end to colonization were suppressed.
In a press release published on Saturday, six European countries, including France, said they were “deeply concerned” by “I“continuation and escalation of violence in the occupied Palestinian territories”. Franceinfo traces the thread of this new episode of violence.
On February 26, a double murder shakes the city of Huwara
While the beginning of 2023 was already marked by an aggravation of the conflict, the death of two Israelis on February 26 provoked serious clashes around the small town of Huwara, located near Nablus, in the north of the West Bank. The young settlers, two brothers aged 22 and 20, were shot dead while driving. A murder designated as a “terrorist attack” by the Israeli authorities, who still have not found the main suspect.
If it has not, for the moment, been claimed, this attack has however been welcomed by the armed group Fosse aux lions, created in August 2022 in Nablus, as well as by the Islamic Jihad group, which evoked a “heroic operation”. These two organizations have been the target for several weeks of intense raids by the Israeli army, including an operation that took place a few days earlier in Nablus, during which a dozen Palestinians were killed and 80 others wounded by bullets.
The same evening, settlers attack the inhabitants of the city
In response to the double murder, around 100 Israeli settlers led a punitive night raid on February 26 in the locality of Huwara, AFP reported. Many buildings were set on fire, as were cars and shops. “The settlers were armed. They fired live ammunition. There was tear gas. My children haven’t slept a wink all night, they’re terrified”Told a resident of the city at franceinfo. Result of this act of revenge: a Palestinian shot dead, and several hundred wounded, according to the emergency services.
“They did all this with the protection of the Israeli army”, said a Palestinian to franceinfo. However, soldiers intervened to evacuate families who were at risk of being burned alive in their burnt homes. In a video posted on social networks, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who had sworn to “revenge” settlers killed, finally called for calm in the area. “Even if the blood is still hot and the spirits heated, I ask you not to take justice into your own hands”he notably ordered.
On March 1, an Israeli minister calls for the “annihilation” of the locality of Huwara
Three days after this peak of violence, Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, had extremely harsh words for the townspeople. “I think Huwara should be wiped outsaid the official, a figure of the Israeli far right. I think that’s what the State of Israel should do.” Faced with the outcry caused by his statements, Bezalel Smotrich clarified on Twitter (content in Hebrew) that he was not targeting the entire city, but rather wanted “acting in a targeted manner against terrorists”.
His violent exit provoked a wave of condemnations on the international scene. “It was irresponsible, it was disgusting, it was disgusting”reacted in particular Ned Price, spokesperson for the American State Department, an ally of Israel. “These comments only fuel hatred and fuel the current cycle of violence”judged for its part France, which urges Israel “to reverse its recent decision to approve the construction of more than 7,000 housing units throughout the occupied West Bank”.
Like other countries, France also calls on the various parties to respect the commitments made at the meeting in Aqaba (Jordan) on February 26. At the end of these discussions, Israeli and Palestinian leaders had in fact pledged to “prevent any further violence” and to strive for a “de-escalation”.
On March 3, a demonstration of support under high tension
After the riots, described as a “pogrom” by the left-wing Israeli daily Ha’aretz (in English)the town of Huwara was visited on Friday 3 March by a delegation from the European Union. ‘Settler violence must stop’declared in particular its leader, Sven Kuehn Von Burgsdorff, quoted by the Middle East Monitor association on its site (content in English).
A few hours after this visit, Israeli demonstrators tried to march in Huwara, but they were largely repelled by the Israeli security forces. Among these activists was the politician Avraham Burg, former speaker of the Israeli Parliament, filmed trying to access the center of the locality, in vain.
The events of Huwara are a thorn in the side of Binyamin Netanyahu, who leads the country at the head of a far-right and ultra-conservative coalition. Like every weekend since his election, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday March 4, protesting against violence in the West Bank, in addition to their call to abandon a controversial reform of the judicial system. In addition to this text, the Israeli Prime Minister and his allies want to introduce the death penalty for those guilty of “terrorism”, a controversial project which further weighs down the atmosphere in the region.