'Israel' should 'wipe out' Palestinian town of Huwara: Minister
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Days after settlers rampaged through the occupied West Bank, a top Netanyahu ally calls for wiping out the town of Huwara.
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A Palestinian man stands amid destroyed cars in Huwara near Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Feb 27, 2023, after Israeli settlers set cars on fire (AFP)
Far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich, one of the most senior members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, called on "Isreal" to "wipe out" the Palestinian village of Huwara in the occupied West Bank.
The horrific remarks came days after the illegal Israeli settlers' rampage, which left one Palestinian murdered and Palestinian cars, homes, and businesses burnt to the ground. The rampage followed a week of brutal aggression against Palestinians in Nablus, in which 11 were killed in an Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raid.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported last Sunday that illegal Israeli settlers launched raids in Huwara, Nablus, violently assaulting Palestinians while the Israeli occupation forces were preventing ambulance crews from making it to the scene.
The injuries were sustained as the Israeli occupation forces were protecting the illegal settlers as the latter vandalized the property of Palestinians, including arson.
Reportedly, as the IOF were preventing ambulance crews from attending to the injuries, the settlers were attacking the emergency vehicles.
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.
Smotrich's remarks are not shocking; they are a manifestation of what daily life looks like for Palestinians under the Israeli occupation. Knesset members from the Otzma Yehudit party described Monday the violent attacks carried out by Israeli settlers in Huwara in the occupied West Bank, occupied Palestine, as "legitimate".
"Huwara is closed-down and burnt down, and this is what I want to see," said Zvi Vogel, head of the National Security Committee in the Knesset. "Only this way will we establish deterrence."
"Deterrence that has not existed since Operation Defensive Shield (the invasion of the West Bank in 2002) has been established," Vogel added, describing the damage done by the settlers in Huwara as "good" and saying that they deserved "a lot of admiration."
