With the world’s attention focused on the war in Gaza, tensions have risen in the occupied West Bank, where 54 Palestinians were killed over the past week in clashes with Israeli troops, arrest raids and attacks by Jewish settlers. U.N. monitors said Saturday it was the deadliest week for Palestinians in the West Bank since at least 2005.
Palestinian demonstrators clash with Israeli forces following a demonstration in support of the Gaza Strip, in the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. Palestinian demonstrators carry injured during clashes with Israeli forces following a demonstration in support of the Gaza Strip in the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023.
The renewed crackdown comes as Israel is concerned about the conflict escalating into a multi-front war, particularly the possibility of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia also joining the battle. “We will change the world so that the settlements will be protected,” he said. “I have ordered the massive arming of the civilian standby units in order to protect the settlements and the cities.”
On Thursday, settlers arrived at Wadi Seeq, a small Bedouin village home to around 200 people in the central West Bank, as Palestinians there packed up their belongings. They had already moved all of the women, children and livestock to a safer area in recent days because of rising threats, a resident of the village said. Witnesses said that the settlers opened fire, wounding three Palestinians and driving the rest out of the village.
Neither COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for civilian affairs, nor the Israeli military responded to requests for comment. In the past, authorities have said troops only open fire in response to threats or to disperse violent protests and that soldiers protect Palestinians from settler attacks.in the last year, an unprecedented figure.
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