The town of Hawara, south of Nablus, lived a bloody night, during which Israeli forces and settlers carried out attacks on Palestinians and their property, in scenes that reminded the people of what happened in the Nakba.
The people of the town of Hawara, south of Nablus in the West Bank, speak of a "bloody night" that reminded them of the stories of the Nakba, in which the Palestinians were displaced in 1984.
On Sunday/Monday evening, flames were seen everywhere in the town of Hawara as a result of fires set by Israeli settlers, but dawn revealed the horror of the incident.
On Sunday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the death of the young man, Sameh Aktash (37 years), and the injury of dozens, in attacks carried out by settlers under the protection of the Israeli army, south of Nablus.
Jamila Dmaidi, a Palestinian woman who lived through a "real night of terror" in light of attacks carried out by settlers in the town, as her house was destroyed and partially burned.
Jamila, 60, says that dozens of settlers attacked her house at night with stones and tear gas, and set parts of it on fire.
The elderly woman, who suffers from a heart condition, added, "We lived a real night of terror. There were only women and children in the house. Ambulance crews were not allowed to arrive."
Jamila describes the situation by saying: "Between screaming, wailing and pleadings, we lived for about 3 hours."
According to what the Anatolia correspondent monitored, the fire destroyed a guesthouse separate from the house, and windows and a number of vehicles in its yard were broken.
After a difficult night, the residents inspect their property and their families. A man stands in front of his house, and next to him is a completely burnt vehicle, which he says was set on fire by settlers.
While the Israeli army soldiers are deployed everywhere, they occupy the roofs of residential buildings, and they take from some houses as military points along the main street in the town of Hawara, through which settlers pass.
The town of Hawara, inhabited by about 7 thousand people, is located on the main road that connects the governorates of Nablus and Ramallah, and the Israelis take it to reach their settlements.
The town lost about 80% of its land to the Israeli settlements and the roads that serve the settlements.
Ghassan Douglas, the official in charge of the settlement file in the northern West Bank, told Anadolu Agency, "About 300 attacks were carried out by settlers in the towns south of Nablus (Hawara Burin, Asira al-Qibliya, Beita, and Za'tara), including physical assaults, and the burning of homes, vehicles, real estate, and others.
He points out that "what happened (Sunday) is a real organized war waged by settler gangs, in an organized manner and with the protection of the Israeli army."
According to Douglas, "the town lived through a difficult night that was described as a real war." He condemned the attack, calling on the international community to "take a real stand to deter settlers and the occupation forces."
Nahil Damadi (33 years old), a resident of Hawara, stands in front of his family's apartment building, which was covered in black as a result of the arson attack on him.
He told Anadolu Agency, "Four private vehicles for the family and a garage for damaged vehicles (to pieces) were burned, which led to damage to the 5-storey building."
Nahil estimated the financial losses in the millions, and stressed that "no one is safe," as he put it.
In turn, Kamal Odeh, secretary of the "Fatah" movement in Huwwara, described what happened as "an attempt to carry out a genocide of the Huwwara population by the settlers and with the protection of the Israeli army."
He added to Anadolu Agency: "Hundreds of armed settlers, with the protection of the army, stormed the main street and burned everything. No house, shop or tree was spared."
Odeh pointed out that "this attack is the fiercest and most widespread of the village, which is located near a number of Israeli settlements."
He said, "The settler attacks are on the rise. Since the beginning of the year, Hawara alone has been subjected to about 100 attacks. What is really happening is that we are being killed by settlers and with the protection of the army."
And on Sunday, the Anadolu Agency correspondent reported, quoting eyewitnesses, that dozens of settlers, with the protection of the Israeli army, stormed Hawara from the direction of "Salman Al-Faris Roundabout" near the Yitzhar settlement, and from the direction of the Za'tara military checkpoint.
Earlier Sunday, two Israelis were killed, after shooting at a car they were traveling in near the town of Hawara.
An Israeli bill to execute the terrorists and European calls for calm in the West Bank
The Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs in the Israeli government approved on Sunday a bill to implement the death penalty against Palestinian terrorists. The European Union called on the Palestinian and Israeli sides to work to stop the violence in the West Bank.
The Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs in the Israeli government approved on Sunday a bill to implement the death penalty against Palestinian terrorists.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "We have now passed a death penalty bill for terrorists in the Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs, jointly with Minister Itamar Ben Gvir."
And he went on to say, "We will continue to work in all ways, security, operational activities and legislation, to deter terrorists and preserve Israel's security (...) Our response to terrorism is to hit it hard and deepen our roots in our country."
The bill is scheduled to be put before the Knesset for a vote on three readings. The ruling coalition, led by Netanyahu, has a majority (64 seats out of 120) in the Knesset.
And the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the court could, under the new law, impose the death penalty on the perpetrators of the crime of murder on a national basis against the citizens of Israel. She added that the Ministerial Committee for Legislation decided, before presenting the legislation to the Knesset, to hold a discussion session in the Security Cabinet about its formula.
Addressing Netanyahu-led Likud officials who asked not to discuss the law before Ramadan, National Security Minister Ben Gvir said, "On this difficult day, when two Israeli citizens were killed in a terrorist attack, nothing is more symbolic than passing the death penalty law for terrorists," according to the same source. .
For his part, Qaddoura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club (unofficial), said that the bill "represents the height of extremism and fascism that the occupation has reached."
Fares added in a statement, "The occupation is working today to transform everything it implements on the ground into racist laws that legitimize and perpetuate crime in a more systematic way."
On Sunday, two Israelis were killed after shooting at a car they were traveling in near the town of Hawara in the northern West Bank, according to official Hebrew media. Later on Sunday evening, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced in a statement that a citizen was killed and dozens were injured and suffocated in attacks carried out by Israeli settlers in the town of Hawara.
Since the beginning of this year, more than 60 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli bullets, including 11 during the Israeli army’s storming of the city of Nablus, in the northern West Bank, on Wednesday. Since the beginning of 2023.
European calls for calm in the West Bank
In a related context, the European Union called Sunday, in a press statement issued by its office in the West Bank (headquartered in East Jerusalem), on the Palestinian and Israeli sides to work to stop violence in the West Bank.
The statement said: "We are disturbed by the violence that took place today near the town of Hawara in the West Bank, as two Israelis were killed, and settlers attacked Palestinian homes, vehicles and shops, which led to the killing of a Palestinian and wounding others."
Earlier Sunday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the "martyrdom" of the young man, Sameh Aqtash (37 years), and the injury of dozens, in attacks carried out by settlers and the Israeli army, south of Nablus.
Anadolu correspondent reported, quoting eyewitnesses, that dozens of settlers, with the protection of the Israeli army, stormed the town of "Hawwara" from the direction of Salman Al-Fares roundabout, which is close to the settlement of Yitzhar, and from the direction of the Za'tara military checkpoint, and added that the settlers burned a number of houses, cars and property on the outskirts of the town.
For its part, the Palestinian Presidency warned Sunday that the failure to oblige the Israeli government to stop settler attacks "harens a spiral of action and reaction," and considered that "the Israeli settler attacks in the West Bank aim to destroy international efforts to try to get out of the current crisis."
The presidency said in a statement published by the official Palestinian agency (Wafa) that it "condemns the settlers' attacks on the Palestinians and their property, south of the city of Nablus, in the northern occupied West Bank." It added that "these attacks are terrorist acts that are carried out with the protection of the Israeli army." And held the Palestinian presidency "full responsibility for the attacks of the Israeli government." And it considered that the Israeli attacks "confirm the lack of confidence in the promises made related to stopping the settlers' terrorism and their attacks on the Palestinian citizens."
In the same context, Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of the political bureau of Hamas, called on the Palestinians on Sunday evening to "urgently mobilize" to confront the Israeli settlers. Al-Arouri said, "We call on the masses of our people stationed in Palestine to mobilize urgently and clash with the occupation and its settlers in support of the town of Hawara and its surroundings."
Turkey earthquakes one dead and the death toll rising to 103 in the Malatya earthquake
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said that the death toll from the earthquake that struck Malatya on Monday has risen to 103, resulting in the death of one person.
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that the death toll from the earthquake that struck Malatya province has risen to 103, leaving one person dead.
Koca stated in a tweet on Twitter that the injured are undergoing treatment, indicating that 6 of them are in operating rooms and 3 are in intensive care.
The Turkish minister expressed his wishes for a speedy recovery for the injured, and extended his condolences to the families of the victims from Malatya.
Earlier, the head of the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, Avad, Yunus Sezer, announced that one person was killed and 69 others were injured as a result of the earthquake that struck the state.
An earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale occurred in Malatya at 12:04 local time (09:04 GMT), with its epicenter in Yeşilyurt district.
Sezer said in a joint press conference with Orhan Tatar, General Director of the Earthquake and Risk Reduction Department at AFAD, that search and rescue operations are currently concentrated in the ruins of 5 buildings.
He pointed out that the region witnesses an aftershock every 3 minutes, since the Kahramanmaraş earthquake on February 6.
In turn, Tatar reported that the region is witnessing unusual seismic activity, pointing to the occurrence of 4 independent earthquakes of magnitude 7.7, 7.6, 6.4 and 5.3, in addition to 45 aftershocks of between 5 and 6 degrees.
He pointed out that the Malatya earthquake was evaluated among the large aftershocks, and explained that the region had witnessed, as of Monday noon, 10,282 aftershocks.
On February 6, two earthquakes struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, the first measuring 7.7 and the second measuring 7.6, followed by thousands of violent aftershocks, which led to the death of tens of thousands, most of them in southern Turkey, in addition to massive destruction.
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