Senior Israeli officers accuse the government of encouraging escalation in the West Bank

JERUSALEM

High-ranking Israeli military officers accused the country's political leadership of fuelling the escalation in the occupied West Bank.

The officers said far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich were “directly responsible” for the rise in violence in the occupied territories. They warned the situation could escalate into a full-blown uprising, with many young Palestinians already facing unemployment and a lack of opportunities.

“We are trying to prevent the population from fully participating in the violence,” a military officer told the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, adding that ongoing Israeli restrictions had increased tensions in the region.

Attacks by illegal Israeli settlers on Palestinians are also pushing young Palestinians to join armed groups in the West Bank, the daily warned.

“This situation cannot continue like this. We are on the verge of a major explosion in Judea and Samaria (West Bank),” said another senior military officer.

The Israeli officers warned that provocations by government officials, such as Ben Gvir's intrusion into the Al-Aqsa Mosque and his attempts to allow Jewish prayers at the flashpoint, could escalate tensions in the West Bank and the entire Arab world.

Last week, the Israeli army launched its largest military operation in two decades in the northern West Bank, leaving at least 40 people dead and causing massive destruction in the region.

Tensions have escalated across the occupied West Bank as Israel continues its offensive on the Gaza Strip, an offensive that has killed over 40,900 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since October 7 last year.

Since then, at least 692 people have been killed and more than 5,700 injured by Israeli gunfire in the occupied West Bank, according to the Health Ministry.

The escalation follows a significant ruling by the International Court of Justice on July 19, which declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Written by Ikram Kouachi

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