The West Bank Turns into a Powder Keg… Settler Marches and Calls for an Israeli Military Operation
The West Bank is now on a knife edge, amid military and political developments that threaten to trigger a major escalation.
The West Bank has witnessed continued clashes and arrests, while settler groups have announced plans to organize marches across various parts of the West Bank, prompting the closure of numerous roads used by Palestinians.
The Israeli military said that a “violent confrontation broke out between Israeli citizens (settlers) and Palestinians in the area of the Susya settlement in Hebron, in the southern West Bank, during which the two sides exchanged stone-throwing.”
After initially reporting that a settler had come under fire, the Israeli military later clarified: “This was not a shooting incident. During the confrontation, a Palestinian seized the weapon of one of the citizens (settlers), while gunshots fired into the air were heard in the area. An Israeli citizen (settler) was injured by stone-throwing and was taken for medical treatment.”
The Israeli military said it was pursuing the Palestinian who had seized the settler’s weapon and had set up roadblocks, closing several roads in the area.
It later announced that the settler’s weapon had been found, although the person who had taken it had not been located.
It was subsequently established that the weapon belonged to a soldier stationed in the settlement. The Israeli military said: “It was determined that Palestinians had assaulted an army soldier who was on leave and taken his weapon. Shortly afterward, army forces succeeded in locating and recovering the weapon. The forces continue to pursue the person who took the weapon.”
In another development, the Israeli military again raided the village of Tal, southwest of Nablus, triggering clashes with Palestinians.
Local Palestinian sources reported that several residents suffered breathing difficulties after the Israeli military fired tear-gas grenades.
The town had already witnessed violent clashes the previous day between Palestinian residents on one side and settlers and the Israeli military on the other.
70 Palestinians Arrested
The Israeli military announced that 70 Palestinians had been arrested during raids carried out in various areas of the West Bank over the previous night.
It said: “During the night and this morning (Saturday), Israeli army forces, the Shin Bet and Border Police arrested more than 70 Palestinians across the West Bank. They were transferred to the security services for further questioning.”
It said that 11 Palestinians had been arrested in the village of Tal and that around 80 others had been questioned in the field.
It also stated that more than 300 locations had been raided in the southern West Bank, resulting in the arrest of several Palestinians.
In the central West Bank, 20 Palestinians were arrested and 50 others were questioned on site, while 16 Palestinians were arrested in the southern West Bank and 15 in the north.
Diverging Israeli Positions
Diverging Israeli positions have emerged over the latest developments in the West Bank.
Yair Golan, the former deputy chief of staff of the Israeli military and leader of the opposition Democrats party, strongly criticized the Israeli escalation in the West Bank.
In a post on the social media platform X, Golan said: “Netanyahu and Katz are turning the West Bank, on the eve of the elections, into a powder keg that could explode and put human lives at risk. We will replace them and work to eradicate Jewish terrorism, dismantle the armed militias affiliated with Ben Gvir, and remove the illegal settlement outposts affiliated with Smotrich.”
Gilad Kariv, a member of the Knesset from the Democrats party, also said: “Images showing hundreds of settlers carrying out raids on Palestinian communities in acts of retaliation are becoming increasingly common. Reports of serious injuries continue to emerge.”
He added: “Government ministers are only making matters worse. A rational government should have worked to rein in retaliatory acts, ease tensions and restore stability. Instead, the government of extremists is exploiting these bloody events, whether driven by nationalist ideology or narrow-minded political considerations.”
Kariv continued: “Israelis and Palestinians, civilians and military personnel alike, will pay with their lives for this madness.”
By contrast, Avi Maoz, the leader of the far-right Noam party and a member of the Knesset, called on the Israeli military to immediately launch a large-scale military operation throughout the West Bank.
