CrossFireArabia
The current Israeli leaders come from everywhere around the world but not from these indigenous lands: Collectively termed Palestine! Theses immigrants have no connection to these territories, yet they are forcing themselves here as if they are the owners while colonizing its real people which include Muslims, Christians and Jews.
CrossFireArabia
Senior Israeli military officers have accused the country’s political leadership of inciting escalation in the occupied West Bank.
The officers said far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich are “directly responsible” for the rise in violence in the occupied territory, warning that the situation could spiral into a full-blown uprising, with many young Palestinians already facing unemployment and lack of opportunities.
“We are trying to prevent the population from fully joining the violence,” a military officer told Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, adding that the ongoing Israeli restrictions have exacerbated tensions in the area.
Attacks on Palestinians by illegal Israeli settlers also push young Palestinians to join armed groups in the West Bank, the daily warned.
“This situation can’t continue. We are on the verge of a major explosion in Judea and Samaria (West Bank),” another senior military officer said.
The Israeli officers warned that provocations by government officials as Ben-Gvir’s intrusions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque and his attempts to allow Jewish prayers at the flashpoint site risk inflaming tensions in the West Bank and the whole Arab world.
Last week, the Israeli army launched its largest military operation in the northern West Bank in two decades, killing at least 40 people and causing massive destruction in the area.
Tensions have intensified throughout the occupied West Bank as Israel persists in its offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 40,900 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since last Oct. 7.
At least 692 individuals have since been killed and more than 5,700 injured by Israeli gunfire in the occupied West Bank since that time, according to the Health Ministry.
The escalation follows a significant ruling by the International Court of Justice on July 19, which declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories unlawful and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem according to Anadolu.
CrossFireArabia
The EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said, Thursday, he asked the bloc members if they want to impose sanctions on some Israeli ministers for “hate messages” against Palestinians in ciolation of international law.
At the start of a European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, Borrell told reporters that he has begun asking EU member states “if they consider [it] appropriate to include in our list of sanctions some Israeli ministers [who] have been engaged in unacceptable hate messages against Palestinians and proposing things that clearly go against international law”.
Borrell did not name any of the Israeli ministers to whom he was referring or specify which messages he had in mind according to the Quds News Network.
In recent weeks, he has publicly criticized National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for statements he has described as “sinister” and “an incitement to war crimes” as they have publicly called for Israel to expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and push more Palestinians out of Gaza.
Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter said she will offer full support for the imposition of sanctions on Ben-Gvir and Smotrich during the meeting.
“Genocidal policies and statements should not go unpunished,” she said in a post on X.
Ireland, one of the EU’s most pro-Palestinian members said, Thursday, it backed Borrell’s suggestion.
“We will be supporting Josep Borrell’s recommendation for sanctions in respect of settler organizations in the West Bank who are facilitating [the] expansion of settlements and also to Israeli ministers,” Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin told reporters as he arrived at the Brussels meeting.
Smotrich has previously caused outrage, including from the EU, for saying that “it might be justified and moral” to starve the two million Palestinians in Gaza as well as for calling for the expulsion of Palestinians from the coastal enclave.
Ben-Gvir has also drawn anger for advocating the resettlement of Palestinians outside Gaza and for saying his right to move around the occupied West Bank outweighed those of the Palestinians living there. The extremist minister also called for an increase in the military pressure and starving people as the only way to release Israeli prisoners.
Following Borrell’s remarks, Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz, said his government is “now working with our friends in Europe to prevent the adoption of resolutions against Israel” at the meeting of EU’s top diplomats.
“The message we are conveying is clear: In a reality where Israel is faced with the threats of Iran and its proxy terrorist organizations – the free world must stand by Israel, and not act against it,” he wrote on X.
CrossFireArabia
In a dangerous provocation to Muslims in the West Bank, Gaza and the Arab and Muslim worlds, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced that he intends to build a Jewish synagogue within the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. This is a site that is revered by Muslims worldwide.
The Ben-Gvir statement was reported by Israel’s Army Radio, where he claimed that Israeli law grants equal rights to Muslims and Jews to conduct prayers at the holy mosque as reported in the Quds News Network.
Meanwhile Jordan condemned such a statement. Jordan’s Foreign Ministry called it as “a violation of international law and an unacceptable provocation that requires a clear-cut international position condemning it.”
It stated Ben-Gvir’s statement “fuels extremism and endeavors to change the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its holy sites through imposing new facts and practices driven by a bigoted exclusionary narrative.”
It stressed that the entire Al-Aqsa Mosque site is an exclusive place of worship for Muslims, and the Jordan-run Jerusalem Waqf Department is the legal entity supervising Al-Aqsa Mosque affairs.
As well, Egypt, Monday, denounced Ben-Gvir’s call to build a synagogue inside Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, stating what he says heightens tension in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The country’s Foreign Ministry said Israel is legally responsible for adhering to the status quo at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and preserving Islamic and Christian sanctities.
It also demanded Israel comply with its obligations as an occupying power, and “stop such provocative statements aimed at further escalation and tension in the region.”
The ministry added that Ben-Gvir’s statement against Al-Aqsa Mosque further complicates and aggravates the situation across the Palestinian territories, and hinders efforts to reach a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to distance himself from Ben-Gvir. However all he said is that the status quo on the Al Aqsa Mosque remains unchanged.
CrossFireArabia
Laying on a hospital bed in Beit Jala in the southern West Bank, Moazzam Khalil Abayat cannot believe he was released from the Negev prison in southern Israel.
Abayat, 37, from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, was released in a “shocking” health condition on Tuesday after a nine-month detention without charge under Israel’s notorious policy of administrative detention.
“Negev prison is like Guantanamo. I saw prisoners killed and trampled on with boots,” Abayat told Anadolu.
“Every night, we were severely beaten. Only last night, I wasn’t hit,” he said.
Despite being surrounded by family and friends at the hospital, Abayat remains disoriented, believing he is still in detention.
“After my arrest, I was subjected to military interrogation and accused of being a murderer. I have never killed anyone,” he recalled.
“I suffered fractures in my head and hand, I was beaten on sensitive and injured areas. I was put in a black bag as if I was dead.”
Abayat said far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir participated in torture at Ofer military prison, west of Ramallah.
“Prisoners are dying in jails. This is an appeal to everyone to take action to save them,” he said.
Abayat’s speech was occasionally incoherent, indicating he still experiences severe psychological distress as if he were still imprisoned.
Family in shock
Abayat’s father, Khalil, was shocked by the health condition of his son.
“The family is in great shock. Moazzaz seems like a completely different person,” he told Anadolu.
“My son was a bodybuilder, worked in a butcher shop, was sociable, and a breadwinner of five. Today, he has almost lost his memory, is nearly paralyzed, thin, unable to walk, and does not recognize many family members,” Khalil added.
He noted that Moazzaz’s weight dropped from around 110 kilograms to barely 50 kilograms.
“Moazzaz was beaten throughout his detention, from the moment he was arrested until his release.”
Brutally assaulted
Dr. Nizar Qumsiyeh, the medical director of the hospital, said, Abayat has various bruises and is in a severe psychological state.
“We have begun medical tests and are awaiting the results, but it is clear he believes he is still in prison and surrounded by jailers,” Qumsiyeh added.
“He needs further examination and follow-up to determine his dietary needs to regain his physical health and then begin potentially long-term psychological treatment.”
According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society, Abayat was brutally beaten during his arrest in late October 2023.
“He was subjected to a series of vicious assaults, including torture and starvation,” it said. “His health condition after his release today serves as a testament to what he endured during his detention.”
Abayat was previously detained twice by Israeli forces. He did not suffer any health problems before his latest arrest.
At least 3,380 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently held without charge in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian figures.
Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian group Hamas.
Nearly 38,300 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 88,200 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
