The Shooting of a 17-year-old Palestinian Soldier in the Shoaf Refugee Camp Between Israel and the Occupied West Bank
The Israel Defense Forces said there was a shooting at a checkpoint in East Jerusalem on Saturday and that an Israeli soldier had died.
According to a Border Police spokesperson “a suspect arrived at the Shuafat crossing and fired at the security forces, in addition, a shot was fired from a passing vehicle. Border Guard forces are searching for the suspects.”
Israeli emergency services said a male in serious condition was transferred to a hospital, and another female was treated at the scene and is in mild condition.
Most of the international community considers East Jerusalem to be occupied by the Shuafat Refugee Camp, an area which is normally quiet near a checkpoint.
In a statement, Prime Minister Yair Lapid called the situation “serious” and said “many forces are deployed in the field and work day and night to protect the citizens of Israel. Our hearts tonight are with the victims and their families. Terror will not defeat us, we are strong, even on this difficult evening.”
The Palestinians say that the youngest was 14 years old, who was shot on Friday near the separation wall between Israel and the West Bank.
The Israel Defense Forces said that Daoud was a suspect who threw Molotov cocktails at them while they were on routine operational activity. The soldiers fired live fire. A hit was identified. The incident is under review.”
It isn’t known if the Israeli measures will be effective. The attackers in the weekend shootings, including a 13-year-old boy, both appear to have acted alone and were not part of organized militant groups.
On Saturday, two 17-year-old Palestinians were killed during an Israeli military operation in the Jenin refugee camp, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
The IDF said forces were in the Jenin refugee camp to arrest an “Islamic Jihad operative” who it claims was “involved in terrorist activities, planning and carrying out shooting attacks towards IDF soldiers in the area.”
The occupied West Bank, especially the areas of Jenin and Nablus, is in an increasingly volatile and dangerous situation, as near daily clashes take place between the Israeli military and Palestinians.
What’s the big deal? It hasn’t exactly played out as Blinken first planned. This past week in Jerusalem has been particularly violent, after Israeli forces carried out their deadliest raid in the West Bank in years, killing nine Palestinians, including gunmen and a 61-year-old woman. Dozens more were injured.
There are rising violence in the occupied West Bank that is making people feel fear and anger. It is crucial to reduce tensions immediately to open the space for crucial initiatives aimed at establishing a viable political horizon,” Wennesland said.
Ben Gvir’s visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque: Israel’s Prime Minister and the Israeli Embassy at the Temple Mount
The visit by the right-wing Israeli minister of national security to Jerusalem, where Jews and Muslims are allowed to worship, drew a rebuke from Palestinians and some Israelis.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound has a status quo agreement dating back to Ottoman rule that only Muslims are allowed to pray inside and only non-Muslims can visit it at certain times. Israel and other states agreed to keep the status quo of access to holy sites after they captured them.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry deplored the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque and stated that it was a serious threat. “We hold [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu responsible for its consequences on the conflict and the region.”
Ben Gvir, the leader of the far-right Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit) party, has previously been convicted for supporting terrorism and inciting anti-Arab racism. The minister is in charge of police in Israel as well as the police in the West Bank.
The group that runs Gaza, Hamas, warned that the visit of Ben Gvir would be the beginning of a new war and that he was pouring fuel over fire.
“The Israeli government of which I am a member will not surrender to a vile murdering organization,” Ben Gvir responded in a tweet. If Hamas thinks that it will deter me from visiting the Temple Mount, let them know that times have changed. There is a government in Jerusalem!”
The Temple Mount area is home to many religious nationalist Jewish groups. There have been several instances of Jewish visitors conducting prayers on the compound, sparking outrage from Muslim authorities and forced removals by Israeli police.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/03/middleeast/israel-palestinians-jerusalem-ben-gvir-intl/index.html
Ben-Gvir, the Temple Mount, and the Middle East: Netanyahu’s visit to Jerusalem and the U.S. Secretary of State
Netanyahu was criticized by his former Prime Minister for entrusting the most irresponsible man of the Middle East to the most important place in the Middle East.
Lapid denounced the visit as a provocation that would endanger human life and cost human lives, and said that it is time for Netanyahu to forbid Ben Gvir from visiting the Temple Mount.
Jordan’s monarchy has been the custodian of Jerusalem’s holy sites since 1924 and sees itself as the guarantor of the religious rights of Muslims and Christians in the city.
There have been periods of violence between Israel and Palestinians that preceded visits by Israeli political figures. There was a visit to the complex by an Israeli opposition leader in September 2000 that contributed to the start of the Second Intifada.
The United Arab Emirates, a key ally of Israel, says it is pushing, with China’s support, for the U.N. Security Council to discuss the situation. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said it urged the UAE to request the meeting, and that it is expected to take place Thursday.
When Ben-Gvir’s visit to the compound was decried, the United Arab nation held calls with Turkey and Jordan. Most of the countries that have slammed the visit have called it “provocative.”
Elham Fakhro said that public opinion in the Gulf was opposed to Israeli actions against the Palestinians, and doubted that formal ties with Arab states could change Israel’s policies.
“I think what’s happening now is there’s been a maturing of the relationship between the two sides. Fakhro is the author of a book on U.S.-brokered deals between Israel and four Gulf Arab states that will be released in 2020.
She says that the U.A. is trying to use their influence. “Whether or not Netanyahu is going to be a willing partner in that is a different question.”
“It’s outrageous. It’s totally intolerable,” former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert tells NPR. “I completely understand the reaction of the international community.”
The killing of seven Israelis by Palestinians in the West Bank caused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce a series of sanctions against the Palestinians.
A visit by the U.S. Secretary of State next week was in jeopardy following the announcement, which came after a bloody month in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Israeli-Israel-is-moving to strengthen settlements after shooting-attacks: How to defend Israel from a Palestinian attacker in the West Bank
Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet, which is filled by hard-line politicians aligned with the West Bank settlement movement, approved the measures in the wake of a pair of shootings that included an attack outside an east Jerusalem synagogue on Friday night in which seven people were killed.
There was no response from Washington. The Biden administration, which condemned the shooting, opposes settlement construction in east Jerusalem and the West Bank — lands sought by the Palestinians for a future state. The topic is likely to be high on the agenda as Blinken arrives Monday for talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Early Sunday, the Israeli military said that security guards in the West Bank settlement of Kedumim had shot a Palestinian who was armed with a handgun and released a photo of what it said was the weapon. There were no further details on the incident or the alleged attacker’s condition.
In addition, Netanyahu could come under pressure from members of his government, a collection of religious and ultranationalist politicians, to take even tougher action. Such steps could risk triggering more violence and potentially drag in the Hamas militant group in Gaza.
“If it’s even possible to put this violent genie back into the bottle, even for a little while, this would require the reinforcement and proper deployment of forces … and carefully managing the crisis without being guided by the widespread calls for revenge,” wrote Amos Harel, the defense affairs commentator for the Haaretz newspaper.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/29/1152383010/israel-is-moving-to-strengthen-settlements-after-shooting-attacks
Israelis are moving to strengthen settlements after shooting attacks: the shooting gunman killed four in the early hours of Friday’s shooting on the Jewish Sabbath
Friday’s shooting, outside a synagogue in east Jerusalem on the Jewish Sabbath, left seven Israelis dead and three wounded before the gunman was killed by police. It was the deadliest attack on Israelis in 15 years.
Authorities published the names of four of the victims. Asher Natan, Eli Mizrahi, and his wife Natali and Rafael Ben Eliyahu were included in this group. Funerals for some victims were scheduled Saturday night.
On Saturday night mourners lit memorial candles near the synagogue in a sign of the charged atmosphere and a crowd then attacked an Israeli TV crew that came to the area, chanting “leftists go home.”
Natali Mizrahi and her husband and father were enjoying the Jewish Sabbath with their niece, when they heard gunfire outside.
She and her husband went out to treat the wounded when they got home, but they shot both of them.
In the wake of the shooting, the Israeli police beefed up their activities and arrested 42 people, including members of the shooter’s family.
In east Jerusalem, a man and his son were wounded when a Palestinian boy opened fire. Both were fully conscious and in moderate to serious condition in the hospital, the medics added.
As police rushed to the scene, two passers-by with licensed weapons shot and overpowered the 13-year-old attacker, police said. Police took the teen’s gun and took him to the hospital.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/29/1152383010/israel-is-moving-to-strengthen-settlements-after-shooting-attacks
Israeli Security Minister Ben-Gvir is Moving to Israel to Strengthen Settlements After a Shooting-attack on the Tel Aviv Hospital
There’s a chance that Blinken arrives in Israel on Monday. The Biden administration condemned Friday night’s shooting and has called for calm on all sides, but there are no details on how it hopes to promote these goals.
Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem hold permanent residency status, allowing them to work and move freely throughout Israel, but they suffer from subpar public services and are not allowed to vote in national elections.
The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future independent state. Jerusalem is Israel’s undivided capital, despite not being recognized internationally, as Israel annexed east Jerusalem.
Israel’s new firebrand minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has presented himself as an enforcer of law and order and grabbed headlines for his promises to take even stronger action against the Palestinians.
Israel’s attorney general was accused of delay in his order to seal off the home of the suspect in the Friday attack, which Ben- Gvir spoke at a hospital where victims were being treated.
The new government says unelected judges have too many powers, so it wants to reform Israel’s justice system.
The issue helped ignite weekly protests by Israelis, who argue that the proposed changes to the Supreme Court would undermine democracy.
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in the central city of Tel Aviv Saturday evening for a new protest. Some raised banners describing Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir as “a threat to world peace.”
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/29/1152383010/israel-is-moving-to-strengthen-settlements-after-shooting-attacks
The U.S. and Israel’s Security Commitment to Israel During the Jenin Reionization Experiment and in the Light of the Oslo Accord
The leadership of the West Bank upheld its decision to cease coordination with Israel to protest the raid in Jenin.
The Palestinian Authority called on international community and the US to force Israel to stop raids in the west Bank after a meeting led by President Abbas.
“In the context of this attack and escalating violence, it’s important that the government and people of Israel know America’s commitment to their security remains ironclad. That commitment is backed up by nearly 75 years of U.S. support. America’s commitment has never waivered, and never will.”