Israel has recently detained numerous pro-Palestine activists with foreign nationalities north of Jericho in the occupied West Bank amid settlers’ attacks, according to Arab News.
Sabotaging Palestinian Communities
The Al-Baidar Organization for Defense of Bedouin Rights unveiled that the Israeli forces have arrested several activists during their intervention on behalf of Palestinian residents of Al-Auja Spring village to protect the nomadic community’s cattle from an attack by Israeli settlers.
The organization added that settlers entered the village on Wednesday and released the cattle among the homes and cultivated land. These actions ruined the community’s source of livelihood.
The group also noted that settlers are doing such sabotage on purpose to force the Palestinian nomadic community to leave the Jordan Valley.
Israel has previously labeled 45.7% of the Jordan Valley’s northern part as military firing zones.
Approximately 1 million Israeli settlers live in illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in violation of international law.
Building Jewish State in West Bank
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.
Mounting Settler Violence
On Friday, thirty Palestinian families were forced to leave their homes in a remote area of the West Bank due to the mounting violence of Israeli settlers.
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.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar stated that any acts of violence by civilians were unacceptable.
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.
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