Thirty Palestinian families were forced to leave their homes in a remote area of the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday due to the mounting violence of Israeli settlers, according to Reuters.
Escalating Violence
Members of the Bedouin Mleihat tribe started to dismantle homes built with iron sheets and wooden boards, after years of escalating harassment and attacks by settlers.
“The settlers are armed and attack us, and the (Israeli) military protects them. We can’t do anything to stop them. We can’t take it anymore, so we decided to leave,” said Mahmoud Mleihat, a 50-year-old father of seven from the community.
Crucially, Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has documented persistent acts of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in Mu’arrajat, near Jericho.
In 2024, Israeli settlers armed with clubs attacked a Palestinian school. Meanwhile, they blocked the path of vehicles carrying Palestinians either by firing into the air or hurling stones at the vehicles in 2023.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar stated that any acts of violence by civilians were unacceptable.
A Call for Annexing West Bank
However, Fifteen Israeli Cabinet Ministers from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party have recently pushed him to immediately annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The lawmakers have signed a petition requesting the administration “to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria (West Bank) before the end of the Knesset summer session,” which ends on July 27.
They also implied that the current moment is appropriate for the annexation thanks to strong US-Israeli relations and the recent military gains.
Crucially, the petition noted that Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, stands out as a living proof of the dangers of establishing a Palestinian state. Furthermore, it described the two-state idea as a threat to Israel’s national security. Consequently, it claimed that annexation would prevent future attacks on Israel.
Katz’s Remarks
In May, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israel planned to build a “Jewish Israeli state” in the occupied West Bank, according to Al-Arabiya.
Katz’s remarks followed Israel’s announcement of the creation of 22 new settlements in the West Bank.
“This is a decisive response to the terrorist organizations that are trying to harm and weaken our hold on this land,” Katz said.
Katz also noted that the new settlements would be a clear message to French President Emmanuel Macron and his associates: they will recognize a Palestinian state on paper – but Israel will build the Jewish Israeli state here on the ground.
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