Violence runs amok in the West Bank with a record number of deaths since 2015

Four Palestinian teenagers have died this weekend in the occupied West Bank in clashes with the Israeli Army and an 18-year-old Hebrew soldier has died in an attack in East Jerusalem, an unprecedented level of violence in the area since 2015 that has raised concerns.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
09 October 2022 Sunday 05:30
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Violence runs amok in the West Bank with a record number of deaths since 2015

Four Palestinian teenagers have died this weekend in the occupied West Bank in clashes with the Israeli Army and an 18-year-old Hebrew soldier has died in an attack in East Jerusalem, an unprecedented level of violence in the area since 2015 that has raised concerns. UN alarms.

Since January, 114 Palestinians have been killed in violent incidents or armed clashes with Israeli security forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry's tally, making 2022 the bloodiest year since the "Intifada". of the knives" of 2015.

"The growing violence in the occupied West Bank is fueling a climate of fear, hatred and anger. It is crucial to reduce tensions immediately to open space for crucial initiatives aimed at a viable political horizon," the UN coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland.

His message comes after a particularly violent weekend in the area. Two minors - Abdel Daoud, 14, and Mahdi Ladaouda, 17 - died on Friday in clashes with Israeli troops in Qalqilya and Ramallah, respectively; while Ahmed Daraghmeh, 16, and Mahmud Moayed al Sous, 18, did so on Saturday in the city of Jenin.

The last two were members of the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad and with a particular presence in the Jenin refugee camp, a bastion of the Palestinian militia movement and the place where most of the Israeli raids that end in violence are concentrated.

However, many of the armed Palestinians responding to Israeli incursions into Israeli territories are not linked to militias or traditional political factions, but act on their own and mobilize through social media.

Their discontent does not respond only to the Israeli occupation, but also to the corruption and inaction of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and the lack of expectations for a political solution to the conflict.

Palestinian attacks against military targets or settlers have also multiplied in recent weeks, such as the one that occurred last night at the entrance to the Shuafat refugee camp, in occupied East Jerusalem, which resulted in the death of another teenager, the Israeli soldier from 18 years old, Noa Lazar, who worked as a Border Police agent.

A Palestinian shot at a checkpoint at the entrance to the Shuafat camp, seriously injuring a civil security guard -he underwent surgery at dawn and remains connected to a ventilator- and two other Border Police officers, who operates the eastern half of the city and in the settlements.

The Islamist movement Hamas praised the attack as a "heroic operation" in reaction to the constant "occupation aggression", while Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid condemned this "severe terrorist aggression" and guaranteed that the security forces are on high alert for a quiet celebration of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which begins tonight.

Seven months ago, the Israeli Army intensified the raids and "anti-terror operations" in the West Bank in response to a wave of five attacks between March and April on Israeli soil in which 18 people died - including two policemen -, which in turn has caused an increase in violent attacks by armed Palestinian youth, especially in Jenin and Nablus. Three Israeli soldiers have been killed in subsequent confrontations, including Lazar.

Meanwhile, more than 110 Palestinians - including unarmed civilians such as journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and dozens of minors - have died violently in the West Bank this year, a figure that has not been exceeded since 2015, when 147 Palestinians died as a result of violence in the area. and 26 Israelis, 24 of them civilians.

In addition, some 2,000 Palestinians have been detained since the beginning of the year as "terror suspects."

Most of the deaths in 2015 were recorded between October and December, in the first months of the so-called "Intifada of the Knives", which responded to a moment of tension similar to the current one.

"The Palestinian people are facing a total war by Israel, which has not stopped for a single moment," Nabil Abu Rudaineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said this weekend, while Hamas urged "continue and escalate the armed resistance" and the Islamic Jihad encouraged to provoke a third intifada.