Status: 03/02/2023 05:13
After the riots in the Palestinian town of Huwara, the Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich called for the village to be “erased”. The United States has now sharply criticized the statements.
The US has sharply criticized Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call to “wipe out” a Palestinian village. “These comments were irresponsible. They were vile, they were disgusting,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in Washington.
Just as the US condemned Palestinian incitement to violence, “we also condemn these provocative statements, which also amount to incitement to violence,” he added. “We call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli leaders to publicly and unequivocally deny and distance themselves from these statements,” Price said.
It is now more important than ever that Israelis and Palestinians work together again to de-escalate these tensions and restore the calm that both Israelis and Palestinians deserve.
Smotrich is also responsible for settlement development
Finance Minister Smotrich, who is also responsible for settlement expansion in the West Bank, had previously said at a conference of the business newspaper TheMarker: “I think the village of Huwara has to be wiped out.” But the state of Israel must do that “and not individual people”.
On Sunday, a suspected Palestinian assassin shot dead two Israeli brothers in the town south of Nablus. After that, Israeli settlers rioted near the scene of the crime, injuring hundreds of Palestinians. Dozens of houses, shops and cars were also set on fire. A deputy from the far-right coalition party Ozma Jehudit expressly welcomed the riots in Huwara.
According to estimates by the Central Palestinian Bureau of Statistics, around 7,400 Palestinians live in Huwara. A central connecting road runs through the small town, which is also used daily by many Israeli settlers in the northern West Bank.
Alleged Palestinian terror suspect killed
Meanwhile, another Palestinian was killed in an Israeli military operation in the West Bank, according to Palestinian sources. The 22-year-old was shot dead during an Israeli raid near the city of Jericho, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
The Israeli army only confirmed one military operation that followed the killing of an Israeli driver. The driver, who also had US citizenship, was shot dead near Jericho on Monday.
The Israeli army reported that four suspects were arrested during the army operation that has now taken place. Among them was the “terrorist allegedly responsible” for the attack on the driver
Since the beginning of the year, 13 Israelis and one Ukrainian have been killed in Palestinian attacks. In the same period, 63 Palestinians lost their lives – they were killed, for example, in confrontations with the Israeli army or in their own attacks. Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967. More than 600,000 Israeli settlers live there today. The Palestinians claim the territories for their own state.