Middle East Monitor / August 7, 2023
The head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency has warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the danger posed by the increasing level of violence by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, Ynet News reported on Sunday.
Ronen Bar called the settler violence a “strategic threat” and warned that the Palestinians are expected to increase their attacks on Israelis in retaliation for the settler attacks.
Bar also said that settler “terror” boosts Islamic Jihad and Hamas in the occupied territories. He warned of attempts to kidnap a settler when attacks against Palestinian villages take place.
On Friday, settlers shot and killed a Palestinian from the village of Burqa and wounded three others after storming the village and attacking residents.
According to Ynet, over the past six months, Israeli security agencies were alerted to hundreds of daily attempts to carry out attacks. Around 450 attempts were foiled, resulting in the arrest of over 1,700 Palestinians. Bar said that the number of Palestinian casualties and the destruction of Palestinian property will lead to retaliation that will cost Jewish lives.
The warnings of the Shin Bet chief were echoed by Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army Herzi Halevi, who also warned about army reservists’ refusal to show up for service.
