AMMAN — Scores of Israeli settlers torched Palestinian houses and
cars and attacked Palestinians in Huwara in the northern West Bank on Sunday
after two settlers were killed by a Palestinian gunman.
اضافة اعلان
According to medics, one Palestinian was killed and nearly 100
other were wounded in what appears to be the worst burst of Israeli settler
violence in decades.
‘Why should we stop?’Daniella Weiss, a leading figure in the settlement movement,
commented on the violent events in Hawara to Israel's Kan public broadcaster on
Monday, saying that "Why should we stop? We're protecting the lives of
Jews… It's a shame that the army even arrived here. They should go a catch the
attacker (who murdered two Jewish Israelis earlier on Sunday),” Haaretz
reported.
Over 30 Palestinian houses in Huwara were burned completely to the
ground
Sources in the Israeli security establishment told Haaretz that in
recent hours, settlers have also set fire to vehicles and houses in the
Palestinian village of Burin, north of Hawara in the West Bank.
In one video, a crowd of Jewish settlers stood in prayer as they
stared at a building in flames.
Prominent members of Israel’s far-right government called for tough
action against the Palestinians.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler leader who
lives in the area and has been put in charge of much of Israel’s West Bank policy,
called for “striking the cities of terror and its instigators without mercy,
with tanks and helicopters.”
Israeli government is ‘fully responsible’In response to the deadly rampage, Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas condemned what he called “the terrorist acts carried out by settlers
under the protection of the occupation forces tonight.”
“We hold the Israeli government fully responsible,” he added,
according to France 24.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price commented on the events
that occurred earlier on Sunday in the West Bank, saying that the US
"condemns today’s violence, including the terrorist attack that killed two
Israelis and settler violence, which resulted in the killing of one
Palestinian, injuries to over 100 others, and the destruction of extensive
property."
Meanwhile, the EU said it was “alarmed by today’s violence” in
Huwara, and said “authorities on all sides must intervene now to stop this
endless cycle of violence.”
The UK’s ambassador to Israel, Neil Wigan, said that “Israel should
tackle settler violence, with those responsible brought to justice.”
‘Never seen such an attack’Ghassan Douglas, a Palestinian official who monitors Israeli
settlements in the Nablus region. said that settlers burned at least six houses
and dozens of cars in Hawara, and reported attacks on other neighboring
Palestinian villages.
He estimated around 400 Jewish settlers took part in the attack.
“I never seen such an attack,” he said, according to France 24.
The rampage occurred shortly after the Jordanian government, which
hosted Sunday’s talks at the Red Sea resort of Aqaba, said the sides had agreed
to take steps to de-escalate tensions and would meet again next month ahead of
the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“They reaffirmed the necessity of committing to de-escalation on
the ground and to prevent further violence,” the Jordanian Foreign Ministry
announced.
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