Israeli soldiers are looking for the Palestinians in the West Bank who shot dead two Jewish settlers there. The investigation is hampered by violent riots by other settlers, injuring dozens of people. Israel's defense minister expects "difficult days".
Fears of further violence in the Israeli-held Palestinian territories are growing after deadly unrest in the West Bank on Sunday. Israel deployed additional troops to the West Bank after a Palestinian gunman shot dead two Israeli settlers. In retaliation, Jewish settlers killed a Palestinian and injured several dozen people when they rioted through a village and set houses and cars on fire.
Now the Israeli army is further increasing its presence in the West Bank. The military has moved a battalion of the Givati Infantry Brigade there, a military official said. Two battalions from another unit had already been dispatched on Sunday to prevent further escalation. A battalion consists of several hundred soldiers.
The settlers' actions are classified as "acts of terrorism," said the Israeli military representative. Ten suspects have already been arrested. The settlers' riots kept the soldiers busy and thus hampered the search for the Palestinian suspect after the attack, the military representative said. Apparently he escaped on foot. The army is also investigating reports that an Israeli gunman opened fire on two Israeli journalists during the riots. However, they were unharmed.
The Federal Foreign Office condemned the killing of the Israelis, but also called for the "completely unacceptable" act of revenge to be dealt with. Only on Sunday, with Jordanian mediation, was there a rapprochement between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, which is responsible for the West Bank. In a joint final declaration, both sides pledged to calm the situation and prevent new violence.
Israel does not want to issue any further permits for the construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank for the next six months. The conference participants also pledged to work towards a "just and lasting peace". The background to the talks was that tensions in the region had increased significantly since the right-wing nationalist government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office and the announced expansion of the settlement policy.
However, the incidents surrounding the village of Hawara endanger the approach again. "We expect difficult days," said Israeli Defense Minister Joaw Gallant as he walked through the largely empty streets of Hawara with a large security detail.
It is good that the Israeli Prime Minister and Israeli President Isaac Herzog have called for moderation, said a spokesman for the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. In the occupied territories, there are regular clashes between Palestinians and Israeli settlers, who are occupying more and more land. The two men killed came from the Jewish settlement of Har Bracha, about eight kilometers away. Violence had recently escalated in the West Bank.
Eleven Palestinians were killed and more than 100 injured in a raid by the Israeli military in Nablus on the West Bank last Wednesday. The Israeli military operations, in turn, are a response to repeated rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip. The UN Security Council recently condemned the Israeli government's retrospective approval of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Continued Israeli settlement activity is dangerously jeopardizing the viability of the two-state solution, the panel said in a statement.
