Top Israeli general makes rare public criticism of settler violence against Palestinians
Israel’s top general in the occupied West Bank has used his retirement to publicly denounce attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians, the Associated Press (AP) news agency reports.
At a ceremony to appoint his successor, the retiring chief of the Israeli military’s central command, Major General Yehuda Fox, said that “nationalist crime” had recently “reared its head”.
“Under the auspices of the war and the desire for revenge, it sowed chaos and fear in Palestinian residents who did not pose any threat,” Fox said, adding that he was dismayed that local politicians and religious leaders have not acted to combat the escalating settler violence.
“This is not Judaism to me. At least not the one I grew up with,” said Fox, whose comments come after a week of intense attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Brazil says Israel’s West Bank settlements are ‘flagrant violation of international law’
Israel’s plan to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank is “a flagrant violation of international law”, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said in a statement.
Brazil also criticised Israeli claims, from the country’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, that the approved expansion was retaliation against the Palestinian Authority’s role in successfully encouraging several countries to recognise Palestinian statehood.
All Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international laws as they violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, which bans an occupying power from transferring its population to the area it occupies.
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law
