The Cradle / July 20, 2024
The escalation in raids comes amid increases in settler attacks and calls for annexation of occupied Palestinian territory by Israeli ministers
The number of Israeli army raids on Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank has tripled in the past nine months amid an escalation in attacks by illegal Israeli settlers as well, Al-Jazeera reported on 20 July.
On Saturday, undercover Israeli special forces abducted a young Palestinian man, former detainee Muhammad Shabaro, during a raid in the Old City of Nablus.
Al-Jazeera added that as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) read its ruling stating Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is illegal under international law, Jewish settlers attacked Palestinians in the town of Huwara near Nablus, burning businesses and fields.
Also on Friday, in the South Hebron Hills, Jewish settlers attacked a family, severely beating a woman who is now being treated in the hospital.
The Associated Press (AP) noted on 19 July that the UN has documented 1,000 settler attacks in the West Bank in the nine months since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, averaging four attacks per day.
Settlers have killed 10 Palestinians during that time, including two children, and injured 234 people, according to the non-profit group AIDA, the AP added.
The settlers have become increasingly bold in confiscating Palestinian land and establishing farming outposts, which are illegal not only under international law but even under Israeli law.
Outposts are now “one of the primary methods employed by Israel to take over areas in the West Bank and to expel Palestinian communities,” said a July report from Israeli rights group B’Tselem cited by the AP.
The increase in violence comes as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir continues to arm Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
Immediately after the start of the war in October, Ben Gvir purchased 10,000 rifles to arm civilian security teams, specifically those in towns close to Israel’s borders around the country, as well as mixed Jewish-Arab cities and West Bank settlements.
Annexing the West Bank and expelling its indigenous Palestinian population is a key goal of Ben-Gvir and the broader coalition of political parties comprising the Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ben-Gvir and fellow minister Bezalel Smotrich issued statements on Friday calling for annexing large parts of the West Bank in response to the ICJ’s ruling that Israel’s occupation is illegal under international law and that West Bank settlements should be evacuated.
In May, Israeli-born US citizen Miriam Adelson, the wife of the late billionaire Sheldon Adelson, reportedly pledged to spend more than $100 million to support Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
In a profile in New York magazine, Adelson suggested that she would push Trump to allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank if he wins a second term. The magazine described West Bank annexation as “unfinished Israel business from Trump’s presidency.”
