Attacks, settlements and danger of escalation: what is happening between Israel and Palestine Inside Over
The escalation of violence, reignited and accelerated by events in Jenin in recent days, has provoked a crisis response diversification to the Palestinian attacks: The military response thus mixes with territorial expansion and building proliferation.
The Terrorist Attack
On the afternoon of June 20, two Palestinian gunmen linked to the Hamas terrorist group were killed open fire at a gas station at the entrance to Eli settlement, killing four Israelis and injuring four others (one of them seriously). According to the Israel Defense Forces, one of the bombers was killed at the scene of the attack by an armed Israeli civilian, while the second fled in one of the victims’ car and was eliminated by Israeli special forces two hours later. Hamas confirmed that the two assassins were members of the armed organization but did not claim direct responsibility for the attack.
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West Bank, June 21, 2023. Israeli settlers look at a bullet hole in the gas station kiosk at the entrance to the Eli settlement where the terrorist attack took place. Credit: EPA/ABIR SULTAN
“The operation south of Nablus is on clear message to the criminal occupation government,” reads the statement published on the Hamas website, “in response to the crimes against the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the attacks in Nablus and Jenin.” The statement relates to the clashes at Al-Aqsa Mosque in early April and recent attacks on West Bank towns that were part of the escalation sparked by the fighting Jenin the day before. The offensives resulted in one Palestinian casualty and 34 wounded by runaway Israeli settlers in the area Nablus, where the same people also set fire to 140 cars in the cities of Luban a-Sharqiya, Beit Furik and Burin. The images of the attacks closely resemble the events in Huwara, adding to fears of a third intifada that several observers have been predicting for months.
In response to the attack, the IDF commander released plans to increase Israel’s military presence in the West Bank and station police officers in sensitive areas such as key intersections and populated areas. It is easy to foresee that this prospect will lead to further tensions in the already hot region.
Retaliation: Legalized Extensions
The following day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with defense and finance ministers, gave official approval to two of the three illegal extensions of the settlement of Eli (the area where the attack took place), which would retroactively legalize them. In addition, the Tel Aviv government has announced plans to accelerate construction thousand housing units in this area.
Elis settlement in the West Bank. Photo credit: Google Heart Maxar Technologies CNES/ Airbus Mapa GISrael Airbus
In the same month, the State of Israel authorized the construction of more than 4,000 houses throughout the occupied West Bank, and the government did not specify whether Eli’s thousand would be among those 4,000. Data from the Israeli newspaper Hayom shows that Israel approved 13,000 apartments in the first half of 2023, but without citing sources. The report prepared by the European Union for 2022 speaks of an effective construction of a total of 4,427 residential units.
It should be borne in mind that Israel settled the West Bank territories during the 1967 war and has occupied them ever since, in violation of international law. Furthermore, in most cases, permitting settler housing in the West Bank is equivalent to the demolition of occupied Palestinian homes.
Tweet by Yishai Fleisher, International Spokesman for the Hebron Jewish Community and Advisor to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir
Israel’s Response to Terror
The traditional Israeli response to terrorist incidents by the Palestinian armed groups It is usually based on military retaliation and hunting down terrorist cells. However, a new equation emerges from this week’s episodes: The connection between the terrorist attack and the planning of permitting new territorial expansions and permitting new construction sites presents a new complexity in Tel Aviv’s response hard to attack and Build our country‘ Benjamin Netanyahu himself said in a comment after the bombing.
Yisrael Gantz, chairman of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, which manages 46 Israeli settlements and outposts in the West Bank, also echoes the same narrative. Speaking to the Times of Israel, Gantz surmised, “If we build 100 houses every time a Palestinian kills an Israeli, then terrorism would end soon” since “terrorism’s ultimate goal is to get us out of this country.” evict, so the response must be appropriate.”to deepen the Israeli presence on the ground.”
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