Illustration photo – Palestinians clash with the Israeli army in the city of Nablus, February 22, 2023.
Ramallah/Jerusalem – During a raid by the Israeli army in Janin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank At least six Palestinians lost their lives in Jordan today. According to the DPA agency, the Palestinian Ministry of Health informed about it. Violent clashes between Jewish settlers and Palestinians continued on Monday and into the night of today in the Palestinian village of Huvára in the West Bank. At least four Palestinians were injured after being hit by stones, Haaretz reported.
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According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 11 people were also injured in the Janine raid, two of whom are in critical condition.
An Israeli army spokesman said it was checking the information. Previous information from the army spoke of four dead Palestinians during the firefight in Janin. According to her, among the dead is also a man suspected of the murder of two Israeli youths in the Palestinian village of Huvára last week. It was this attacker that was targeted by today's intervention, the AP agency said with reference to the unnamed officials.
The situation in Huvar has been extremely tense since the end of February, when a mob of radical Jewish settlers attacked the Palestinians there. One person died, another hundred were injured and dozens of cars and houses were destroyed. The attacks came after the aforementioned Palestinian radical shot dead two Israeli brothers in Huvar.
On Monday, both Jewish settlers and Palestinians from Huvára claimed that the other side threw stones at cars passing by the checkpoint. According to The Times of Israel, among the injured is a two-year-old Palestinian girl who was sitting with her family in a car where one of the Jewish settlers sprayed pepper spray.
Videos published on social networks show that Israeli soldiers on Monday in Huvar they joined the Purim holiday celebrations and danced in the streets. According to Reuters, on one recording, a soldier can be heard saying in Hebrew: “Gentlemen, we have captured Huvár!” The army said it would investigate the incident because such behavior by soldiers “is not compatible with what is expected of combatants on duty”.
The leader of the Israeli opposition Labor Party, Merav Michaeli, condemned further attacks in Huvar. “A group of violent settlers attacked innocent people on the street during Purim in the village of Huvára. This is not a fringe group of youth, it is the mainstream supported by members of the current government,” she said.
He added fuel to the fire regarding Huvára and Israeli far-right politician and finance minister Bezalel Smotrič, who said last week that the village must be “exterminated”. American diplomacy then described these comments as “irresponsible and repugnant”.
Tensions in the West Bank escalated after the new government of Benjamin Netanyahu took office. It contains ministers who promote the expansion of settlements in this territory, which the Palestinians want together with the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem for their state. Settlement expansion is considered illegal by most of the international community.
Since the beginning of the year, Israeli armed forces have killed at least 71 Palestinians, including militants and civilians. Palestinians have killed 13 Israelis this year, the DPA agency reported.
