By Roberto Castellanos
Chief Correspondent in Egypt
The death of two Israelis at the hands of a Palestinian served as a pretext for dozens of extremists who stormed the village and other neighboring towns in the northern Nablus governorate, actions that sparked numerous international protests.
More than a hundred vehicles and about 40 houses were set on fire, according to Ghassan Daghlas, who oversees settlement activities in the northern West Bank.
For its part, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported more than 100 people injured and one dead during the violence. After the attack, police arrested 10 settlers, but they were later released for “lack of evidence”.
Both the authorities and the Israeli army knew about the plans to attack Hawara, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is keen to appease the most extremist circles in his cabinet, and therefore allows them “to do what they want,” the writer criticized Analyst Nihad Abu Ghosh.
What happened at the end of February was not caused by an angry group, they are militias that have their own structure and budget, he explained.
For researcher at the Institute for Palestinian Studies, Razi Nabulsi, Tel Aviv’s strategy is to resort to violence and crimes against settlers under the guise of “retaliatory operations.”
“Hawara must be deleted today,” wrote David Ben Zion, one of the settlers’ leaders, on Twitter ahead of the attack, though he later deleted his words after much criticism. However, far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir liked the tweet.
Later, when questioned on the issue, Smotrich also advocated destroying the village, words that sparked a barrage of international criticism, which in turn forced the official to back down.
“That wasn’t the right word, I expressed myself poorly,” said the chief financial officer, known for his racist and anti-Arab attitudes. Zvika Fogel, a member of parliament for the extreme right-wing Jewish power party, also defended the new aggression.
“We stopped opposing collective punishment (…) We took off our gloves. A terrorist came from Hawara. A closed and burnt hawara: I want to see that. This is the only way to achieve deterrence,” said Fogel, known for his support for the annexation of the Palestinian territories.
Faced with this situation, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh blamed the Netanyahu government for the attack.
Across the border, too, scores of Israeli politicians, including MPs, have accused Netanyahu and his ultranationalist rulers, particularly the Jewish ruler Itamar Ben Gvir.
THE AGGRESSION CONTINUES
The settlers were acting in the spirit of the current fascist government, criticized Arab-Israeli MP Aida Touma-Sliman, while her colleague on the floor, Ayman Odeh, leader of the leftist Hadash party, warned that “this pogrom will only lead to more bloodshed “.
Despite much criticism, in the following days the settlers continued their attacks in various areas of the occupied West Bank, including Tulkarem and Jenin governorates.
In a recent report, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (B’Tselem) condemned settler violence against Palestinians as another method Tel Aviv uses to control West Bank land.
They carried out a variety of acts, including physical attacks, rock-throwing, threats and harassment, damage to trees and crops, car vandalism, road blockades and even firing live ammunition, he criticized.
The organization stressed that “as a result, the Palestinians are afraid to go onto their properties, which the state then takes and uses for its own ends.”
The Israeli authorities, including the security forces and law enforcement system, are fully aware of this reality but allow and encourage such violence and then rejoice in the outcome, he stressed.
In fact, the Israel Hayom newspaper revealed that the army knew about the plans to attack Hawara.
Meanwhile, Haaretz newspaper reported that the security agencies exchanged accusations and criticisms of the armed forces officers for failing to close the streets ahead of the radicals’ imminent arrival.
In turn, to justify itself, the army accused the Jewish branch of the General Security Service (Shin Bet) of failing to warn them of the situation.
The first organized attacks by settlers date back to April 1968, when a group led by extremist Rabbi Moshe Levinger occupied the Immortal River Hotel in downtown Hebron, owned by the Qawasmeh family.
The government’s financial, political and security support has been the catalyst for the rise of many radical groups in the settlements, which have carried out countless attacks and killings.
Among them, the Hebron massacre stands out on February 25, 1994, when Baruch Goldstein murdered 29 Palestinian worshipers who were praying in the Ibrahim Mosque by indiscriminately firing on those present.
Unofficial statistics indicate that at least 44 Palestinians have been killed by settlers since 2015. In 2022 alone, 1,187 attacks by these individuals were reported.
Taken from the Latin Press