Settlers Call for the formation of armed militia Demand for long range weapons

By: Madeeha Al-A’raj
The national Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements ( nbprs ) stated in its latest weekly report that , a few months ago, settlers began forming an armed militia, which they named the ‘Civil Guard’ that carries out ‘night sweeps’ to confront the Palestinians on roads that pass through Hawara town, south of Nablus. The Civil Guard, which fully sponsored and operates under the Army is in fact an armed militia that was launched from the Yitzhar settlement to the south of Nablus, and began to expand using the settlers personal weapons licensed by the Civil Administration. It does not claim that it is a substitute for the army, but one of its arms in civil clothes and undertakes night patrols on the roads to assist the army.
This militia s role is not-limit-ed to providing protection to the movement of settlers on the roads, as it claims, and it did not provide guarantees to anyone confirming that it would not carry out attacks on the Palestinians, which prompted the Israeli Minister of Internal Security, Omer Bar-Lev to admit recently after a series of criminal practices, that the settlers are practicing ‘organized terrorism’ against the Palestinians in the West Bank, especially after their attacks on the Palestinians doubled, including physical, vandalism and burning of property and farms attacks in front of the Israeli army soldiers.

In addition, last week, settlers in the occupied West Bank demanded the occupation army to provide them with long-range M4 and M16 submachine guns, and not be satisfied with “special pistols.” Settlers claim that special pistols are insufficient for “self-defense,” and to allow the arming of guards inside the settlements. The settlers’ demands come at a time when they intensify their daily attacks on Palestinians in various areas of the occupied West Bank, whether on road axes,´-or-in the olive groves, where they attack daily olive pickers through organized groups usually accompanied by army forces, claiming that the latter comes to prevent confrontations with the Palestinians, however, the army provides them with protection as various reports indicated that the army is carrying out attacks against Palestinians.

Within the context, data of the National Bureau for Defending the Land and Resisting Settlement surveillance that since the beginning of this month, more than 110 attacks by settlers against Palestinians have been recorded, half of which occurred only during the past 10 days. According to Hebrew sources, there is a state of anxiety among the Israeli security services about the escalation of crimes committed by settlers against Palestinians, including burning of property and attacks to the point of indiscriminate killing, in a phenomenon that has been gaining momentum since last month, specifically in and around Nablus and other areas in the West Bank.

Accordingly, one of the central aspects of the phenomenon that worries the Israeli security establishment is that the events stem from the initiative of a large number of extremist Jewish youths, who are carrying out ‘revenge’ measures against the Palestinians, which would destabilize security in the region and could lead to an escalation. Dangerous, according to the estimates of the security establishment, especially since these attacks have become legitimate in the eyes of those settlers, which constitutes a serious breach of security in the area.

Furthermore, the International Commission of Inquiry, emanating from the United Nations Human Rights Council, presented a report of conclusions about its investigations on the ‘Guardian of the Fences’ operation’ in May 2021, which confirmed that Israel committed war crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza during that operation, and also focused on actions in the West Bank.
Navi Pillay, chair of the committee and a former commissioner of the Human Rights Council, said that the Israeli occupation is illegal, and Israel s policy is based on committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. During her speech before the UN committee she added that ‘Israel is establishing the occupation and pursuing a policy of annexation, and it is time to consider the occupation in the full context and hold it accountable, after it became clear that Israel s actions in the West Bank are not intended for security purposes, but are used as a pretext of expansion ambitions.

List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
• Attacking citizens, who were participating in the weekly stand for the people of Sheikh Jarrah Neighborhood in the occupied city of Jerusalem, insulted and said racist slogans against the citizens.
• Forcing a Jerusalemite to demolish his house under the pretext of building without a permit in the Jabal Mukaber, another citizen was also forced to demolish his room on the same pretext in the Sa’diya Neighborhood. He reported that the occupation authorities also forced him to pay about NS 100,000 as fines for not having a permit.
Ramallah:
• Injuring a number of residents of Burqa village, east of Ramallah while harvesting their olives. Confrontations erupted between them, settlers used sharp tools and pepper gas against them.
• Closing the Iron Gate’ leading to Nabi Saleh and the western villages of Bani Zaid, and preventing citizens vehicles from entering´-or-leaving.
• Bulldozing lands adjacent to the military tower erected at the entrance to Nabi Saleh, and the occupation authorities informed the owner of the land that there was a plan to establish an occupation army camp in the area.
• Assaulting the staff and head of the Committee to Confront the Separation Wall and Settlements, and the farmers while they were picking olives, and fired tear gas and burned two vehicles.
• Attacking vehicles of citizens in the Wadi El-Delb area and the village of Deir Ibzi’, west of Ramallah, and chanting racist slogans.
Bethlehem:
• Preventing farmers from entering their land to pick olives in 2 areas of Al-Abra in the village of Al-Jab’a, southwest of Bethlehem, on the pretext that they do not have special permits that allow them to enter the land.
• Throwing stones at houses and vehicles in the Tekoa town, southeast of Bethlehem, broken their windows. They also attacked homes and vehicles of citizens with stones at the entrance to the village of Al-Minya, east of Bethlehem, smashing their windows.
Nablus:
• Attacking residents near the entrance to Duma village in Nablus, and threw stones at vehicles, smashing their windshields.
• Two young men were injured after settlers attacked the residents of Burin town in Nablus. The Red Crescent in the city said that its crews carried two injuries to the head and the eye as a result of the settlers attacks on them.
• Detaining farmers in the lands of the Qaryut town, south of Nablus, in an area called ‘Hariek Shirk’ at gunpoint.
• Attacked student girls, Shaden and Rasha Awad Najms, and sprayed them with pepper gas in the center of the Hawara town, while they were on their way to the university.
Qalqilia:
• Closing the road between the cities of Qalqilya and Nablus at the junction of the village of Kafr Laqif, east of Qalqilya, and raising the flag of the occupation state, under the protection of the occupation army,
• Closing an agricultural road in the village of Kafr Laqif, east of Qalqilya, which connects the village with the town of Azzun, known as the ‘Kafr Laqif Bridge’, with earth mounds, knowing that closing this road will deprive dozens of farmers of access to their lands.
Jordan Valley:
• Demolishing 3 houses in the village of Al-Dyouk Al-Tahta, west of the city of Jericho, with an estimated area of 150 square meters each, under the pretext of not having a license.
• Seizing a towed vehicle loaded with equipment to install solar cells for families living in Wadi Al-Faw in the northern Jordan Valley, provided by the Energy Authority.
• Closing the Ein al-Hilweh Junction and attacking foreign solidarity activists and shepherds with stones in the lands of Al-Auja, north of the city of Jericho, which led to the injury of one of the solidarity activists.
• Seizing 100 dunums in the northern Jordan Valley and began razing them to turn them into agricultural settlements, knowing that the lands belonging to families from Tubas, and were closed by military orders for years.

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