Fears of ‘civil war’ grow as more Israeli and Palestinian die while settlers continue their raids
In the wake of the attack on the Jewish settlement of Eli, three Palestinians die in a car hit by drone-launched rockets, like in a "targeted execution". For Palestinian activist, military occupation is killing any hope for peace. At least 400 settlers storm a village, torching houses and cars. Four Israeli are killed. Pope calls for justice and mercy as he meets ROACO delegates.
Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – In a spiral of violence that seems to have no end, Israelis and Palestinians continue to die while their leaders, who lack true leadership qualities, fall back on the use of force to try - in vain - to crush the other side.
Three armed Palestinians are the latest victims after their car was hit near Jenin by one or more rockets fired from a drone. Some claim the attack follows a pattern of targeted executions that various members of the Israeli government have repeatedly advocated, while others say that the trio was getting ready to attack a military post.
For Adel Misk, a Palestinian neurologist and activist, Israel’s military occupation is the Gordian knot that must be cut if the conflict is to end. "Today in Jenin, more than in Nablus or Bethlehem, military intervention is designed to stifle the fire of resistance,” he told AsiaNews.
For the former spokesperson for The Parents Circle, an association of 250 Israelis and 250 Palestinians who lost relatives in the conflict, Israeli “aggression keeps 3.5 million Palestinians in check [in the West Bank] and another two million in Gaza, and this oppression generates further violence.”
Now the settlers "feel freer to act and strike, like yesterday when 400, with weapons in hand, attacked and set fire to houses and cars, with their faces uncovered because they do not have to be afraid about hiding their identity.”
Things are sliding “towards civil war” against a backdrop of international indifference. According to the United Nations, at least 27 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians this year, while the Israeli military and settlers have killed 156 Palestinians, including 26 children.
Pope Francis, for his part, remains extremely concerned about the state of affairs and the victims in the Holy Land, as he made plainly clear this morning during his audience with participants to the 96th plenary assembly of the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO), and those attending the Youth Conference.
The pontiff mentioned God’s “plan of peace” in the Bible, which shows us, however, from the start, the “violence between brothers: Cain and Abel and the killing of an innocent person”, like between Israelis and Palestinians.
For the pontiff, however, revenge for Cain’s killing is not what must be done. Sparing his life is “the first act of justice and mercy”. Yet, such words of peace clash with what is going on the ground.
The aforementioned drone operation is but the latest in a long series of attacks and clashes, including Israel’s retaliation against Palestinian villages in response to the killing of four Israeli settlers at the West settlement Bank of Eli.
During a raid by at least 400 Jewish settlers against a Palestinian village near Ramallah, a 27-year-old Palestinian man, Omar Qatin, was caught in the crossfire between Israelis and Palestinians.
As they stormed the village, settlers set fire to or tried to set fire to at least 60 cars and 30 buildings. Three other Palestinians were wounded.
Other attacks by Israeli settlers linked to Israel’s religious extreme right were reported in Huwara, Luban Sharqia and other Palestinian villages, with scores of people injured.
According to a rough estimate, 120 Palestinian cars were also set on fire.
A 15-year-old Palestinian girl, Sadil Naghnaghia, was declared dead in hospital after being shot in the head by a stray bullet while she was at home in Jenin, during an incursion two days ago by Israeli army soldiers.
Meanwhile, funerals were held for Nachman Mordoff, Elisha Anteman, both 17, 21-year-old Harel Masood, and 64-year-old Ofer Fayerman, the settlers killed in the armed attack at the Eli settlement.
In response to the shooting and deaths, the Israeli government has given the green light to the construction of a thousand new homes in the same settlement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that he and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich “agreed to move ahead immediately” with this, but no timetable was given.
“Our response to terror is to hit it hard and build in our land,” a statement from their meeting said.
It is unclear if the 1,000 units are from the 4,560 already proposed across the occupied West Bank or if they are entirely separate, as suggested by the Jerusalem Post.
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04/05/2017 17:52
