Complicated, difficult days ahead: Israeli security minister
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The Security Minister says he instructed the security and military establishment to fully prepare and strengthen presence and capabilities on the ground.
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Israeli occupation forces firing tear gas at the Huwara checkpoint in Nablus on February 26, 2023 (AFP)
Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant visited the site of the Palestinian operation in Huwara on Monday and expressed fears of "complicated and difficult days" awaiting "Israel".
Gallant said he "instructed the security and military establishment to fully prepare fully prepare and strengthen presence and capabilities on the ground," calling for the arrest of the individuals who carried out the operation "and taking them to court or the cemetery."
Israeli media reported earlier on Sunday that two settlers were killed with an M-16 rifle in a shooting operation near the town of Huwara, Nablus, in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian operation came in response to the massacre carried out by the IOF in Nablus last week, which resulted in the martyrdom of 11 Palestinian martyrs and over 100 injuries.
Homes, shops, and cars were set ablaze in a village in #Palestine by Israeli settlers, under the protection of Israeli occupation forces.
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) February 27, 2023
Many #Palestinians said last night's horrific scenes were a lot like the Zionist gangs' crimes committed during the 1948 Nakba. pic.twitter.com/7DgGUlLeDm
Read more: 'Israel' asks illegal settlers to carry their firearms
Israeli Channel 12 reported that the one behind the operation rammed the car of the two Israelis, then got out of his car, shot them, and then left the scene. The channel indicated that the Israeli occupation forces went to the area and are now looking for him.
Tal Lev-Ram, a military correspondent in the Israeli newspaper Maariv, said the security and military establishments failed to "prevent friction" in Huwara, adding, "They [Israeli settlers] entered the village from all directions and began burning and destroying it. The security establishment must examine this incident."
The military correspondent also highlighted the failure to find the individuals who carried out the operation, who managed to flee despite the presence of roadblocks around Nablus.
After the operation, the leader of the Israeli opposition, Yair Lapid, described the situation as "total chaos", after Israeli occupation settlers aggressed the area and rampaged through properties of Palestinians, setting dozens of vehicles and houses ablaze, in addition to attacking the residents of the town.
"The government has lost control of Jewish terrorism, the cabinet, the Knesset, and the settlers," Lapid said on his Twitter account.
A few days before this operation, Inspector General of Police Kobi Shiftai said the Israeli occupation is witnessing a period of escalation, noting that there is a "significant increase in the number of warnings."
He added, "I have tried to refrain from giving interviews for the time being, but if there is anything preventing me from sleeping, it is the situation we are in."
Israeli settlers set a Palestinian town ablaze
Late Sunday evening, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that Israeli occupation settlers launched attacks on Huwara, Nablus, violently assaulting Palestinians while the Israeli occupation forces were preventing ambulance crews from making it to the scene.
According to Palestinian sources, more than 150 Palestinians were injured in the attacks of the occupation forces and settlers and 52 Palestinian homes and 130 Palestinian cars were burned. A civil defense vehicle was also destroyed.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the martyrdom of Sameh Hamdallah Aqtash (37 years old), who succumbed to severe wounds sustained by live bullets from the occupation forces and settlers' attack on the village of Za’tara near Nablus.
