Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are reeling after Israeli
settlers ravaged a village overnight, killing
a 23-year-old man and injuring several others in the latest
incident of deadly violence against Palestinians in the area.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Friday that Mahmoud Abdel
Qader Sadda was fatally shot in the attack on Jit, in the northern West Bank
about 10km (six miles) west of Nablus.
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Dozens of masked Israeli settlers descended on the village,
opening fire on residents, setting cars ablaze and destroying homes and other
property, according to witnesses and video footage from the assault.
The attack came amid a surge
in Israeli military and settler violence against Palestinians
in the West Bank, which has unfolded in the shadow of Israel’s war on the Gaza
Strip.
Nearly 600 Palestinians have been killed by
Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank between the start of the Gaza war
on October 7 and August 12, according to the latest figures from
the United Nations humanitarian affairs office (OCHA).
Rights groups also have criticised Israel
for allowing its forces
as well as settlers to operate with “endemic impunity” in their attacks against
Palestinians.
The assault on Jit drew widespread
condemnation from Palestinians as well as foreign leaders, including those from
countries that continue to provide military and diplomatic support for Israel
amid the Gaza war.
Here are some of the reactions:
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Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack
as an act of “organised state terrorism”.
“We demand the imposition of deterrent sanctions on the racist
colonial system, the dismantling of the terrorist settler militias, and the
prosecution of their members,” it said in a statement.
Hamas
The Palestinian faction, which governs Gaza, offered condolences
to the man killed in Jit.
In a statement, Hamas said the attack was part of Israel’s
“fascist extermination plans”.
“We call on our people in all governorates of the West Bank to
rise up in anger to deter the settlers and repel their terrorist attacks,” the
group said.
Israel’s “policy of incursions, assassinations and unleashing
settler gangs will only increase our people’s adherence to their land and holy
sites”.
Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he viewed “with
utmost severity the disturbances that took place” in Jit, “which included
attacks on people and property by Israelis who entered the village”.
“It is the [Israeli army] and the security forces that fight
terrorism, and nobody else. Those responsible for any offense will be
apprehended and tried,” the statement said.
Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, also condemned the
violence, which he attributed to “radical individuals”.
At a time when our troops are fighting on the frontlines, defending the State of Israel, a group of radical individuals have launched a riot, and attacked innocent people. They do not represent the values of the communities living in Samaria. I strongly condemn any form of… Show more
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United States
A spokesperson for the US National Security Council said that
“attacks by violent settlers against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank are
unacceptable and must stop”.
“Israeli authorities must take measures to protect all communities
from harm, this includes intervening to stop such violence and holding all
perpetrators of such violence to account,” the spokesperson said, as reported
by US media.
The US ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, added in a social media
post that Israeli settler attacks “must stop and the criminals be held to
account”.
@USAmbIsrae ·Follow
I
am appalled by yesterday’s violent attack by settlers against Palestinians in
the West Bank. These attacks must stop and the criminals be held to account.
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European Union
Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, said the attack in Jit
“aimed at terrorising Palestinian civilians”.
“Day after day, in an almost total impunity, Israeli settlers fuel
violence in the occupied West Bank, contributing to endanger any chance of
peace,” he wrote on social media, urging Israel to “stop these unacceptable
actions immediately”.
United Kingdom
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he condemns the attack
“in the strongest of terms”.
“The scenes overnight of the burning and the torching of
buildings, of the Molotov cocktails thrown at cars, of the widespread rampage
and chasing of people from their homes, is abhorrent,” he told reporters in
Jerusalem alongside his French counterpart.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that there will be a swift
investigation. I hope that that investigation can ensure that those who engaged
in this settler violence over the course of the last 24 hours are brought to
justice.”
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France
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said “any act that would
destabilise” negotiation efforts – notably to reach a ceasefire in Gaza – is
“unacceptable”.
“We are very vigilant and attentive and we denounce this
situation,” he said, noting that France imposed sanctions against
“violent settlers” earlier this year.
Germany
The German Foreign Office said the “violence
is unacceptable and the attacks must stop immediately”.
“Palestinians have a right to live in safety. Israel has an
obligation to protect Palestinians in the West Bank, stop these attacks, and
prosecute the perpetrators. There must be no impunity for such acts of
violence,” it said.
GermanForeignOffice
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We
condemn the violence of extremist settlers who attacked and set fires in a
Palestinian village in the West Bank yesterday, one Palestinian was killed.
This violence is unacceptable and the attacks must stop immediately. 1/2
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Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the UN’s human rights
office, said the violence in Jit was “not an isolated attack”.
“It is the direct consequence of Israel’s policy of settlement in
the West Bank. We have been reporting for the past years about settlers
attacking Palestinian communities in their land in the West Bank with
impunity,” Shamdasani told reporters.
“And this really is the crux of the matter: the impunity that the
perpetrators of such grave violations have been enjoying.”
She added that there have been “reports of Israeli security forces
standing by as attacks take place”, as well as reports of “weapons being
distributed to the settlers”.
“So there is clearly a state responsibility in this regard.”
UN special rapporteur
Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur for the occupied
Palestinian territories, said sanctions must be imposed on Israel after the
settler attack.
“Time to act was decades ago: as it was not done, that time is
now,” she wrote on X.
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