As the United States and Egypt call on Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) not to take unilateral steps that could escalate tensions amid fears of a full-scale confrontation, the spiral of violence continues on the ground. Nothing indicates that calm days are expected.
Members of Sayeret Golani, a special battalion dedicated to the fight against terrorism in this brigade of the Israeli Army, killed three Palestinian militiamen this morning after they fired at a military position at the Jit intersection in the northern West Bank. A fourth attacker, according to Israeli spokesmen, turned himself in to security forces.
“The soldiers confiscated three M-16 rifles, a pistol, and chargers used by the assailants,” the Army said after searching the car with which the armed Palestinians arrived. Since this is not the first time that this type of armed attack has happened in that area, Sayeret Golani soldiers were waiting for them hours before. The PNA Ministry of Health identified those killed by Israeli shooting as Jihad al Shami (24), Uday al Shami (22) and Mohammad Dabeek (18).
The Lions’ Den, an armed group created in the old town of Nablus, has identified the command as its own, stating that it had ambushed the Israeli soldiers with whom they clashed. After praising them and dismissing them as “martyrs”, the militia vowed revenge. Hamas has launched a similar appeal from the Gaza Strip, which it has controlled since 2007. According to this Islamist group, “the death of the heroes will fuel the great Intifada” in the West Bank.
“I want to praise the members of Sayeret Golani for neutralizing three terrorists last night in Samaria,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at noon at the start of the weekly government meeting. Beyond speaking about his recent visit to Italy, denouncing Israeli media coverage and defending the controversial judiciary reform plan that has sparked numerous protest demonstrations in the polarized country, Netanyahu also dedicated a few words to the volunteer from the Police and several soldiers (who were not on duty at the time) who last Thursday night aborted a more serious attack in Tel Aviv. The Palestinian Mutaz al-Khawaja shot at point-blank range against several young people in a crowded area of ??the Israeli city, causing three injuries (two of them are still in critical and serious condition). Palestinian factions linked this attack in the heart of Tel Aviv to the morning deaths of three members of the armed wing of Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank.
Following the increase in Palestinian attacks in Israel exactly one year ago, the Israeli security forces launched a broad operation with numerous raids, especially in Jenin and Nablus, two strongholds of the armed groups and where the PNA security personnel do not have the presence of a few years ago. In those areas of the northern West Bank, every Israeli incursion ends in armed clashes.
Since the beginning of 2023, more than 80 Palestinians have died, mostly militiamen in exchanges of fire or attackers killed during their attacks like the one last Thursday in Tel Aviv but also civilians not involved in armed clashes and others who were killed by launching stones and Molotov cocktails against Israeli soldiers or civilians in the West Bank territory occupied by Israel in the 1967 war. On the other hand, 13 Israelis (12 civilians and one agent) and a Ukrainian woman have died in Palestinian attacks in the last two months.
On February 26, emissaries from the PNA, Jordan, Egypt and the US met in the Jordanian city of Aqaba to find the formula to reduce tension and stop the chain of actions and reactions, especially with a view to the start of forever in a few weeks. sensitive month of Ramadan in Jerusalem. The unprecedented security summit was a desperate attempt to prevent the situation from getting further out of control between Israelis and Palestinians, who on the other hand have not held peace negotiations since 2014.
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