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A Palestinian man runs near a burning object, after an attack by Israeli settlers, near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. (Image: Reuters)
At least 18 people have died in the past week as clashes erupted between illegal Israeli settlers and a few Palestinian miscreants affiliated with the terror group Hamas.
A fresh outbreak of violence in the Israel-occupied West Bank now has the potential of spiralling out of control, the UN issued a stern warning on Friday. “These latest killings and the violence, along with the inflammatory rhetoric, serve only to drive Israelis and Palestinians deeper into an abyss,” UN human rights chief Volker Turk said.
At least 18 people died in the territory this week due to incursions by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), Palestinian miscreants as well as Jewish settlers.
Israeli news outlet Haaretz in a report said that Israeli settlers were spotted vandalising a West Bank mosque in the Palestinian village of Urif during a rampage earlier this Wednesday.
One masked settler was seen leaving the mosque with a Quran which he later tore apart on a street outside. The Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din condemned the incident and called it an organised pogrom. “The settlers’ assaults continue with no effort by the army to stop them. The shocking footage demonstrates that the settlers’ sole purpose is to incite a riot by committing organised pogroms,” Yesh Din said in a statement accessed by the Israeli news media outlet.
The Palestinian village of Urif was thrown into the spotlight and became the latest flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after Muhanad Shehadeh, 26, and his friend Khaled Sabah, 24, attacked a petrol station outside a nearby Jewish settlement on Tuesday.
These Palestinian men were later found to be associated with the terrorist group Hamas – which controls the Gaza Strip – and were shot dead by a passerby and an Israeli army officer moments after they killed four Israelis and seriously wounded four more.
Hamas said the attacks on the petrol station were retaliation for the Israeli raid on Jenin refugee camp on Monday that killed six Palestinians.
Later on Wednesday, settlers also set ablaze a school and attempted to set fire to homes and the mosque as well. The residents said that the settlers entered the village from the direction of Yitzhar settlement.
The two Hamas-affiliated men were reportedly from the village of Urif.
In a separate incident, Jewish settlers also set ablaze fire to houses and vehicles in the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya on Wednesday, Haaretz said citing security officials.
After the settler rampage, violence broke out between security forces and Palestinians leading to the death of a 27-year-old man named Omar Ketin, who was shot dead.
US envoy to Israel Tom Nides slammed the settlers for the violence in the West Bank and said that “Washington would not stand idly by and watch the settler violence of recent days”. Nides said that Israel has been encouraged by security agencies to take the necessary steps to prevent such violent incidents.
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