What is the deal with the violence in West Bank ?

[notsoready4school]

why does a mentally disabled child throwing stones deserve to be shot from 150 metres away ? The stones couldn’t have even reached them? They can’t possibly be fearing him, he is by himself, they are tons of them and they have cars and guns. How is this justifiable to all these people going on and on supporting a country where these things go on. How is this a country the west considers a democratic ally? How do these values reflect the values of the west?

I understand the outrage of parents wanting the hostages back but Fouads parents will never ever have him back.

The link is to Channel4 reporting Matt Frei

https://x.com/Channel4News/status/1722715554274783247?s=20

.

https://www.jordannews.jo/Section-20/Middle-East/Israeli-settlers-harass-Christian-clergy-in-Jerusalem-34062

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/02/shocking-spike-in-use-of-unlawful-lethal-force-by-israeli-forces-against-palestinians-in-the-occupied-west-bank/

Settlers set fire to cars yesterday and attempted to lit houses as well
https://twitter.com/MiddleEastEye/status/1757306110451871924

I saw the video of his home being demolished in East Jerusalem whilst the Palestinian Fakhri couldn't do anything to stop it. It's sad and infuriating, and I don't know if it will make much of a difference that the US called out the Israeli authority over it

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/us-blasts-israel-for-home-demolition-of-palestinian-activist-in-east-jerusalem/

“These acts obstruct efforts to advance a durable and lasting peace and security that would benefit not just Palestinians but Israelis,” Miller says.
“They damage Israel’s standing in the world, and they make it ultimately more difficult for us to accomplish all the things we’re trying to accomplish that would ultimately be in the interest of the Israeli people, and so we condemn them and will continue to urge that they not continue,” Miller says.

Palestinian blinfonded and made to run before being killed by sniper in West Bank

https://twitter.com/yunus_arslan_ya/status/1757974841515213298

I saw that too. Apparently the demolitions of Palestinians’ homes here have increased hugely since the start of the war against Gaza.

As for so called illegal buildings of Palestinians being destroyed when ‘legal’ building for Palestinians is more or less prevented by Israel, what about the all the illegal Israeli settlements that should not be there at all?

Palestinians tearing down the wall that separates them from Israel
https://twitter.com/sahouraxo/status/1779291223238344992

The trouble with Iran will give the settlers cover. They always get busy when the world's media is focusing elsewhere.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/04/israeli-forces-kill-5-palestinians-in-raid-near-west-banks-tulkarm

https://www.instagram.com/p/C63vms3KKFm/?igsh=MWd4dGU2eHVuODdobg==

Human shields in the West Bank.

From The guardian

Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has restated his position that the Israeli-occupied West Bank should become permanently part of Israel rather than part of a Palestinian state. A member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, Smotrich described it as his “life’s mission” to “thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state”.
Speaking at a meeting of the Religious Zionism party, Haaretz reports he said:
We will establish sovereignty in Judea and Samaria [an Israeli name for the occupied West Bank], first on the ground and then through legislation. I intend to legalise the young settlements. My life’s mission is to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Israel occupied the West Bank, capturing it from Jordan, in the six-day war of 1967.
In May 2023, Smotrich instructed Israeli government ministries to prepare for 500,000 more Israeli settlers to move into the occupied-West Bank, describing it as a “core mission” for Netanyahu’s government.

Acclaimed Palestinian author and activist Raja Shehadeh speaks about the lived reality of life in the West Bank in recent months.

x.com/amanpour/status/1805660626531885540?s=46&t=tm415yZZZz0e-dE263leqA

Christiane Amanpour on CNN has done some fabulous interviews with both Israelis and Palestinians.

report by the UN about the Humanitarian situation in the West Bank

https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/humanitarian-situation-update-204-west-bank

Those poor children. It is an outrage that an Israeli soldier, who has no right to even be there, can just break into a child’s home and just take them out to use them as part of an Israeli attack against that child’s own people. And it must cause the child terror.
It is clearly a crime, and a terrorist crime too. There is no legitimacy.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c623zkwd04qo

how many more killed by settlers ?

Haaretz

WEST BANK: Dozens of Israeli settlers rioted in the West Bank village of Jit on Thursday night, shooting at Palestinian residents, torching vehicles and homes and throwing stones. One person was killed and another critically wounded by gunfire, and three were wounded by stones, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. It was not immediately clear whether it was IDF or settler gunfire that killed and wounded the two.

• Hassan, a resident of the village, told Haaretz that "there were about 100 settlers. They were masked, dressed in black, armed and some had knives. It seemed planned. They didn't look like children, they looked like adults."

• Four houses and six cars were torched during the rampage, Israeli rights group Yesh Din said. A security source told Haaretz that a firebomb was hurled at a house while the family was inside, adding that they managed to escape from the house, which was severely damaged.

• The IDF said that the Shin Bet and the Israel Police opened an investigation, with one Israeli man taken into custody on charges of assaulting a police officer. Apart from him, no other Israelis have been detained.

• PM Netanyahu condemned the incident in a statement, saying that "those responsible will be caught and sentencedaccording to the law." President Isaac Herzog wrote on X that "a small, radical minority…is harming the law-abiding settler public and Israel's status during this hard and sensitive time."

• Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the raid had "nothing to do with the settlements or settlers. They are criminals who should be sentenced." Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir blamed the IDF chief of staff for not sufficiently backing soldiers who "shoot stone-throwing terrorists" which "leads to incidents" like the attack. Interior Minister Moshe Arbel called on the Shin Bet and other authorities to "act immediately to eradicate the nationalistic crimes that took place tonight against innocent people."

• National Unity Party chairman Benny Gantz wrote that "the handful of people breaking the law should be behind bars. They are undermining the principles of Judaism. They are hurting the State of Israel." Yair Golan, head of left-leaning The Democrats, insisted the violence "is not an extremist minority and a minor problem, but a violent group that enjoys enormous government support," accusing Netanyahu of bringing "representatives of the rioters in Jit into the Knesset and appointed them as ministers. Without a change of government, this violent public will continue to run Israel and lead it to oblivion."

• U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew said he was "appalled" by the settlers' rampage

Haaretz:

WEST BANK: IDF reservists stood by as Jewish settlers in the West Bank attacked residents and set fire to buildings in the West Bank town of Jit Thursday, according to a preliminary probe by Israel. A defense official said the soldiers "didn't do anything to stop the pogrom," despite witnessing the acts. A 23-year-old Palestinian was killed and none of the rioters were arrested.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2ny546m7go

Five were reportedly killed in an air strike in al-Far’a refugee camp, and six in a drone strike and armed clashes in Jenin.

Israeli forces are said to have entered a hospital in Jenin and blocked off two in Tulkarm.

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How long til they start destroying hospitals in the West Bank ?

Apparently it's a counter terrorism operation, so I assume they are arresting illegal settlers....

What's going on? Why are they blocking hospitals?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5y8xkejjn3t

Israeli forces have stormed a medical point and detained healthcare workers. PRCS has no contact with the people they've trapped.

I have lost all hope. Every day the news gets worse and worse. I despair at how helpless I feel and am.