A Palestinian teenager was killed on Monday April 10 during an Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank, a new stage in the escalation of violence in the region in recent days. The Israeli army said in a brief statement that ” security forces were carrying out an operation in Aqabat Jaber a refugee camp near Jericho.
The Palestinian ministry later announced the death of 15-year-old Mohamed Fayez Balhan, “ killed by occupation live ammunition after being shot in the head and chest, according to a statement.
This operation comes the day after the funeral of two young Israeli women murdered on Friday in a Palestinian attack in the Jericho area. Security tension has been on the rise since the brutal irruption on Wednesday of Israeli forces in Al-Aqsa Mosque of Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam, having sparked a series of international condemnations. Deadly attacks, rocket attacks from Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, followed by Israeli reprisals, tarnished the festive atmosphere marking the celebrations of Jewish Passover, Christian Easter and Ramadan.
On Wednesday, Israeli forces twice burst into the Al-Aqsa mosque and dislodged worshipers gathered for night prayers in the middle of Ramadan. Israel claims that the security forces were “ compelled to act to restore order “in the face of” extremists barricaded in the mosque with rocks and firework flares which were used against the police during their assault.
Thirty rockets
The next day, around 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel, injuring one person and causing material damage. The Israeli army retaliated by carrying out strikes on Gaza and over southern Lebanon. And on Friday evening, Israel announced the mobilization of reserve police units and military reinforcements, after a car bombing in Tel Aviv that claimed the life of an Italian tourist, and the death of two Israeli sisters aged 16 and 20 in an attack in the West Bank.
“ If one of the terrorists envisages that during the holiday period, he will be able to escape the security forces, he is mistaken. Anyone who acts against us, we will settle his account “Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Twitter on Sunday.
הגעתי הערב לצפון השומרון, כדי לעקוב מקרוב אחר אחרילות כוחות הביטחון במצוד מחבל המחבלים שב ever
אם יש מחבל שחושב שבתקופת החגים הוא יחמוק מידו הארוכה של צה״ל, הוא טועה. כל מי שיבצע נגדנו את הפעולה הקטנה ביותר – נבוא איתו חשבון. pic.twitter.com/UhNMGcM34X
— יואב גלנט – Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) April 9, 2023
March to an illegal settlement
In addition, hundreds of Israelis are taking part in a march to Eviatar, an unrecognized colony by the Israeli authorities in the northern West Bank, to demand its legalization. Several ministers and deputies are expected, including the Minister of Public Security Itamar Ben Gvir. The latter, a supporter of the cause of settlers in the West Bank, said in a video released by his office that Israel “ do not capitulate to terrorism, neither in Eviatar nor in Tel Aviv “. In 2021, several Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire in the village of Beita, neighboring Eviatar, during protests against the establishment of the settlement.
Since the beginning of the year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of at least 94 Palestinians, 18 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian, according to an AFP tally compiled from official Israeli and Palestinian sources. These figures include, on the Palestinian side, combatants and civilians, including minors, and on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, including minors, and three members of the Arab minority.
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(With AFP)