Tension in the Palestinian territories usurped by Israel has been escalating dangerously. An unjustifiable and condemnable act carried out in recent days by Israeli settlers in the West Bank has once again exposed the violence to which the Palestinian people are subjected.
By Maria Josefina Arce
Tension in the Palestinian territories usurped by Israel has been escalating dangerously. An unjustifiable and condemnable act carried out in recent days by Israeli settlers in the West Bank has once again exposed the violence to which the Palestinian people are subjected.
Dozens of settlers stormed the town of Huwara, killing one Palestinian, wounding 400, burning houses, cars and crops, as well as attacking ambulances providing aid to the injured.
The aggression, in retaliation for the death of two Israelis, occurred under the complicit gaze of the Tel Aviv army, which so far this year has already killed more than 60 Palestinians, a figure that in 2022 exceeded 200.
In fact the attack came days after a violent raid by Zionist forces in Nablus, considered one of the most lethal in recent times that left 11 dead, including a 16-year-old teenager, and some 80 wounded.
Residents of the town of Huwara denounced that their lives were in danger, but the Zionist troops were only concerned with protecting the settlers, whom the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in coalition with the ultra-right, has promised to arm and legalize their settlements on the usurped land.
Some 500,000 Israelis have settled in the West Bank in 164 of these settlements which are contrary to international law. A UN special rapporteur has described them as a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Michael Link has pointed out that Israeli settlements violate the prohibition against an occupying power transferring part of its civilian population into occupied territory, as recognized by the Statute adopted in 1998.
As Link pointed out, Tel Aviv seeks to occupy these territories in perpetuity and to prevent the creation of a true Palestinian state.
But Netanyahu, already known for his hard-line stance, seems determined to continue creating new of these illegal settlements, considered as an obstacle to peace. The Palestinian Authority has emphasized that this course of action is in contradiction with UN resolutions, in particular 2334, issued by the Security Council.
In light of recent events, the response has been the preliminary approval by the Israeli Parliament of a government-sponsored law to impose the death penalty on Palestinians accused of alleged terrorist acts.
Israel's stance is pushing further and further away the possibility of a solution to the conflict and in the meantime, Palestinians are suffering the usurpation of their land, the destruction of their homes and are subjected to increased violence by the occupying forces.
