The head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, urged Israel this Thursday to take “urgent measures” to end violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Blinken had a telephone conversation this Thursday with Benny Gantz, leader of the Israeli opposition who joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, to whom he “emphasized the urgent need to take concrete measures to calm tensions in the West Bank.”
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller also highlighted that Blinken addressed “increasing levels of violence by extremists.”
Blinken also spoke with Gantz about diplomatic efforts to free the Hamas hostages, some 240 people.
In the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 by Israel, more than 190 Palestinians have been murdered by Israeli settlers and soldiers since October 7, the start of the war between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas, according to data from the Palestinian Ministry. of health.
The Israeli military is increasing attacks and incursions into this territory, claiming to be responding to a “significant increase in terrorist attacks” in the West Bank with “more than 550 attempted attacks since the start of the war.”
In the West Bank, there are 490,000 settlers among three million Palestinians. The UN considers these colonies to be illegal under international law.
Gantz, a retired centrist general, agreed to serve in a war cabinet with Netanyahu.
The prime minister leads a coalition with far-right supporters who strongly support the colonization of the West Bank.
On October 7, fighters from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) – in power in the Gaza Strip since 2007 and classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel – carried out an attack on Israeli territory of dimensions unprecedented since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, it left 1,200 dead, mostly civilians, around five thousand injured and more than 200 hostages.
In retaliation, Israel declared a war to “eradicate” Hamas, which began with food, water, electricity and fuel cuts in the Gaza Strip and daily shelling, followed by a ground offensive surrounding Gaza City.
The war between Israel and Hamas, which this Friday marked 41 days and continues to threaten to spread throughout the Middle East region, has so far left 11,500 dead in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians, 29,800 injured, 3,250 missing under the rubble and more More than 1.6 million displaced, according to the most recent report from local authorities.
Source: TSF
