Israel uses attacks to justify and escalate collective punishment: Palestinian politician
Attacks against Israelis, such as the most recent one in occupied East Jerusalem, are followed by an “escalation of collective punishment policies that are there anyhow”, Mustafa Barghouti, the secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, says.
Attacks on Palestinian cities and towns in the occupied West Bank are “a pattern that exists without any attacks”, he told Al Jazeera. “It’s just that they [Israel] use such a moment to justify and escalate collective punishment acts against Palestinians.”
The ultimate goal is “clear”, Barghouti continued, which is “the annexation of the West Bank and the displacement and ethnic cleansing of its population”.
Israeli forces raid home of Jerusalem attack suspect, arrest father and brother
Video footage independently verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking unit shows Israeli forces raiding the house of the family of Mohammad Taha, in the town of Qatana, northwest of occupied Jerusalem.
Taha is accused of being one of the two Palestinian men carrying out the Jerusalem attack, in which six people were killed. Israeli authorities said that both shooters were killed in the wake of the attack.
The footage, published by local Palestinian platforms, shows Israeli forces arresting two individuals who are said to be Taha’s father and brother.
Ambassador says US stands with Israel against ‘savagery’
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has reacted to the attack in occupied East Jerusalem that killed six people, saying he was “horrified” by the act of “deadly terror”.
“We stand with Israel against this savagery,” he said on X.
Huckabee’s choice of words echoes that of other US officials when describing actions attributed to Arabs. Last month, US diplomat Tom Barrack called Lebanese journalists “animalistic” and repeatedly requested that they act “civilised” as they shouted questions during a press conference.
Washington and its officials have failed to use similar strong language to condemn the unrelenting Israeli attacks in Gaza over the last two years, including the latest strike that flattened a high-rise building housing displaced families in Gaza City.
The war in Gaza has killed at least 64,522 Palestinians and the United Nations found Israel’s tactics to be consistent with the characteristics of genocide. Israel’s settlement-building in the occupied West Bank is also ramping up and is considered illegal under international law.
Second child confirmed killed after Israeli raid on Jenin refugee camp
The director of Jenin Governmental Hospital, Wissam Bakr, has told the Palestinian news agency Wafa that 14-year-old Mohammad Sari Omar Masqala died of his injuries after being wounded by the Israeli army in the Jenin refugee camp.
Earlier, another 14-year-old, Islam Abdel Aziz Noah Majarmah, was confirmed to have been killed during a raid on the camp in the wake of the attack that killed six people in East Jerusalem earlier today.
The Israeli military set up checkpoints across the West Bank as it raided several towns. It fired live ammunition and sound grenades as it raided the town of Biddu, but no injuries were reported, according to Wafa.
In the town of Abu Dis, video circulated on social media shows army officers severely beating a young man. Arrests were reported in the towns of Qatanna, where tear gas prevented ambulances from reaching the site of the raid.
More settler attacks reported in occupied West Bank
Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinian vehicles northeast of Ramallah, Wafa has said. Witnesses told the Palestinian news agency that the settlers threw stones along the road between Ramallah and Nablus, near the illegal Shiloh settlement.
In a separate incident, a group of settlers set fire to a nursery in the village of Deir Sharaf, in the Nablus governorate. Three Palestinians suffered burns as a consequence, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.
