A statement issued by the occupation government said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the army to take steps after the incident in the town of Tel, and to demolish the home of the perpetrator of the operation, noting that he and the Minister of Security, Yisrael Katz, decided to legalize existing settlement outposts and establish new settlement outposts in the West Bank.
The statement issued by Netanyahu and Katz also said they had ordered the army to conduct a “large-scale operation in Palestinian villages that serve as a source of terrorism.” Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, continued: “The occupation forces must be allowed to act freely and forcefully against terrorism and refrain from any action that would hinder these efforts.” He added: “We will pursue terrorists everywhere, including those who supply them, and we will hold them accountable.”
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted a source in the occupation army as saying that it had begun transferring part of its forces stationed in Gaza and Lebanon to the occupied West Bank.
The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality within the 1948 territories condemned the terrorist massacre perpetrated by groups of armed settlers in the village of Tell, west of Nablus, which resulted in the martyrdom of four Palestinians and the injury of four others, three of whom are in critical condition.
Netanyahu and Katz said in a statement that they had ordered the army to carry out a “large-scale operation in Palestinian villages that are a source of terrorism.”
She noted the background of the massacre, referring to the storming of the village by dozens of settlers and their attack on the residents and their property, which led to a clash with the locals who confronted the attack, which also resulted in the death of an Israeli settler and the injury of two others.
The Front added in an official statement: “This crime is not an isolated incident, but rather a direct result of the occupation government’s policy of deepening and expanding settlements, fueling settler terrorism instead of seeking a political solution, and providing military protection to armed gangs that enter the heart of Palestinian villages with their weapons without deterrence.”
The Front holds the occupation government, headed by Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, and its security apparatus, “fully responsible for these crimes, and affirms that the continuation of the occupation will only bring more bloodshed and victims, as it has repeatedly warned. As long as the occupation continues, we will continue to witness the same cycle of bloodshed. It is either ending the occupation, or barbarity; there is no third way.”
Overthrow this government
The Front concluded its statement by emphasizing the priority of political and militant action at this stage: “Our responsibility today is to continue the struggle to overthrow this fascist government and its settlement policies, to stop the crimes of the settlers, and to protect the lives of our people in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and within the Green Line alike. Deepening injustice and oppression will only bring more bloodshed, and the only solution is a just peace and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.”
The head of the Arab Movement for Change, MP Ahmed Tibi, criticized the statements of the head of the “Democrats” party, reserve general Yair Golan, regarding the crime of attacking the village of Tel.
Al-Tayyibi addressed Golan, who had previously said, when he served as deputy commander of the occupation army, that the West Bank was witnessing something reminiscent of Germany in the 1930s, in reference to Nazism: “You ignored the settlers’ attacks, and started from the middle of the story, and ignored four Palestinian victims,” considering that his account overlooked the facts that preceded the incident.
that Golan adopted the narrative of the attacking settlers, asking: “Are you sure that this is what happened?”, indicating that what happened in Tel came after attacks carried out by armed settlers against the villagers, as they usually do.
Al-Tayyibi added that discussing the events in Tel in isolation from the settlers’ attacks does not reflect the full picture, stressing that the discussion should start from the attack that the village was subjected to, not just from its end.
Tibawi’s remarks came in response to a post by Golan in which he expressed his condolences to the family of the settler who was killed and called for fighting what he described as “terrorism.” Tibawi stressed that ignoring the attacks that preceded the events in the village of Tel leads to an incomplete narrative that does not reflect the truth of what happened.
Dr. Tibi concludedby saying that it is Jewish terrorism, supported by the occupation army, that must be condemned and stopped, especially since the occupation denies and prevents any Palestinian from defending themselves.
