Status: 04/10/2023 2:34 p.m
The situation in the West Bank remains tense. A 15-year-old Palestinian was shot dead by the Israeli army. Thousands of Israelis take part in a “solidarity march” for Jewish settlers.
A 15-year-old boy was killed during an Israeli army operation in the West Bank, according to Palestinian sources. The youth suffered gunshot wounds to the head, chest and abdomen, the Ministry of Health said. Two other people were injured.
Israeli army arrests terrorist suspect
According to the Israeli army, it had previously entered the Akabat Jaber refugee camp near Jericho in order to arrest a terrorist suspect there. Violent riots broke out during the operation, and residents of the camp threw explosive devices and Molotov cocktails. The soldiers then returned fire and “identified hits”. The terrorist suspect was arrested and handed over to the authorities for further investigation.
The situation in the West Bank has been tense for some time. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 93 Palestinians, 16 Israelis, one Italian and one Ukrainian have been killed in attacks or military operations since the beginning of the year.
Thousands of Israelis have taken part in a heavily guarded march to the illegal settlement outpost of Eviatar. Eviatar was cleared a good two years ago.
Image: AP
Right-wing politicians at “Solidarity March”
Meanwhile, thousands of Israelis have embarked on a heavily guarded march to the West Bank settlement outpost of Eviatar. Eviatar is not officially approved as a settlement and was vacated around two years ago following an agreement with the then residents. However, members of the right-wing religious Israeli government coalition are in favor of resettlement.
The ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir as well as 20 MPs from the extreme right-wing governing party therefore also took part in the march. Ben-Gvir said the march expressed “we are here and we will stay”.
Controversy over settlement policy
Israel distinguishes between settlements created with government approval and so-called wild settlements, which are intended to be retrospectively legalized by law. From an international perspective, however, all Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories are illegal. At the end of 2016, the UN Security Council called on Israel to completely stop settlements in the occupied territories.
Since conquering the West Bank during the Six Day War in June 1967, more than 600,000 Jewish settlers have settled there to date, while the Palestinians claim the area as territory for their own state.