The violence in Palestine shows no signs of slowing down. This morning a Palestinian man was killed and at least seven others were injured in a firefight by Israeli troops in the occupied city of Nablus, in the West Bank. The Israeli army claims it was conducting a raid on the West Bank overnight and that its troops came under fire, during the arrest of two Palestinian men accused of killing an Israeli soldier. Amir Bustami, 21, was killed in the Israeli army raid, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Tensions have been running high for months as Israel has regularly carried out nightly arrests in the West Bank claiming it is responding to Palestinian attacks on Israelis last spring. This same morning, Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip, targeting an underground complex that contains raw materials used for the manufacture of rockets belonging to Hamas", the Palestinian Islamist movement that rules in Gaza.
These new confrontations take place in a context in which an outbreak of uncontrollable violence is feared, since the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has experienced a marked escalation since the beginning of the year. Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 2022, the deadliest year in those areas since 2004, and at least 46 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops since the beginning of this year. On the other side, some 30 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians in 2022, and at least 11 others have been killed in attacks so far in 2023.
In the midst of this escalation of the conflict, the cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved the legalization of nine settler settlements in the occupied West Bank, considered illegal under international law. This has provoked the condemnation of the Palestinian Authority, which has described the measure as an "open war" against its people.
In a statement, the Israeli authorities argue that "the nine communities have existed for many years; some have existed for decades," despite the fact that the settlements were built without authorization from the Israeli government. In addition, Netanyahu revealed his intention to "strengthen the settlements" and announced that his government wanted to submit legislation to the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, to revoke the Israeli nationality of "terrorists" this week.
Netanyahu's office claimed on Sunday that the decision had been made in retaliation for two recent attacks in Jerusalem that killed 10 Israelis. Three Israelis, including two children, were killed in an attack Friday in Ramot, a Jewish settlement neighborhood in occupied east Jerusalem. "In response to the murderous terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, the security cabinet has unanimously decided to authorize nine communities in Judea and Samaria," the statement said.
More than half a million Israelis live in some 200 settlements built on Palestinian land considered illegal under international law, and which the United Nations has condemned in multiple resolutions and votes.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry issued a statement in response in which it argued that the decision crossed "all red lines" and undermined the revival of the "peace process."
