Nablus

- Last Friday evening, an extremist Israeli settler opened fire at a group of Palestinian youths at the entrance to the town of Beita, near the city of Nablus (Northern West Bank), seriously wounding them, and almost causing a new massacre, after the Jenin camp massacre, which claimed the lives of 9 Palestinians at once. one.

Directly, and from a few meters away, the settler fired 6 bullets from his pistol at 5 young men, wounding 4 of them in multiple areas of their bodies.

This incident warned of the escalation of the settlers' threat to the lives of Palestinians on the roads and on the outskirts of villages and towns in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, especially as it coincided with a decision by the Israeli government to grant settlers more weapons under the pretext of strengthening their protection measures, following the recent Jerusalem operation that was carried out by Khairi Alqam, in which 7 Israelis were killed. and wounded others.

Strengthening the arming of settlers will constitute a new "launching whistle" for them to pounce on the Palestinians more, according to legal and security experts who spoke to Al-Jazeera Net, and confirmed that this approach will fuel and explode the situation, and will increase settler terrorism.

According to estimates by the Knesset Security Committee - published by the Israeli website "Shomrim" (the observers) in early July - that until 2021 there were 150,000 weapons in the hands of settlers (700,000 settlers in the West Bank and Jerusalem), and it is expected to increase by 15,000 in a year 2023, to become 165,000 or more.

Israeli soldiers protect settlers who came to celebrate at the entrance to the Palestinian village of Al-Laban, south of Nablus (Al-Jazeera)

Netanyahu is looking out for his own interest

The director of the Palestine Institute for National Security Research, Nayef Jarad, says that arming more settlers who are armed and trained in the first place is "a permit to kill Palestinians without account", and an attempt to impose more control over the Palestinian areas by the occupation, especially as it is accompanied by the apartheid regime (apartheid segregation) approved by the Knesset ( The Israeli parliament) recently, which has become attached to the settlements of the Israeli sovereign apparatus and institutions.

Jarad believed that all the occupation's recent killing, mass arrest, settlement and Judaization of Jerusalem indicates the fascism and Nazism of the new government, and reveals "the truth of Zionist colonialism in the world, and exposes the government and its image."

"Many Israelis themselves have come to believe that the occupation is tarnishing their image and reputation," he said.

For Netanyahu himself, this measure (arming the settlers) may constitute protection and stability for his government, as he is an alliance with the hardened religious right-wing settlers, and he wants to preserve his coalition from these extremist organizations and gain them in his favor at any cost.

As for the Israeli army, it expressed - according to Jarad - its "dissatisfaction" with the step of arming them, because this creates two powers: the army and the settlers, as a result of the interference of the heads of the government coalition - especially Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir - in matters of national security and the authority of the occupation army.

This will fuel internal disputes between the leaders of the army and the settlers, and will create contradictions within the ruling establishment in Israel, because in this case the orders will be in the hands of the politician and the settlement council and not by the army leadership.

"The arming of settlers may create internal stability for the Netanyahu government, but this should be a regional and global opportunity for the Palestinians to reveal the truth about the fascist regime and its violations against them," Jarad said.

According to the "Global Fire Power" website - which specializes in providing data on military forces in various countries - the Israeli army has 187,000 regular soldiers and 565,000 reserve soldiers.

Head of the Political Department of the Islamic Jihad Movement: The arming of settlers does not scare us and the decisions of #Netanyahu to calm Zionist public opinion # Al-Jazeera_Mubasher # Evening # Jerusalem # Khairy Alqam # Muhammad_ Aliwat pic.twitter.com/UedN5ufjCX

- Al Jazeera Mubasher (@ajmubasher) January 28, 2023

An extension of the army's approach

The director of the Palestinian Al-Haq Foundation for Human Rights, Shawan Jabarin, says that arming settlers stems from a firm belief and a firm position that expresses the occupation's ideology and policies. It is also an official call and government permit to kill and terrorize Palestinians.

Jabarin believes that it is "an extended act of an official policy of the occupation governments based on the destruction, displacement and systematic execution of Palestinian civilians who are supposed to be protected because they are the owners of the land and are under occupation."

Adding that "blood can only come with blood."

Regarding the dimensions of the new armament, Jabarin said that settlement and settlers are already illegal in the occupied territory, but "arming the criminal is an enhancement of crime, and whoever arms them is more criminal."

He ruled out that the occupation army and the Israeli security institutions would oppose arming the settlers, for whose sake crimes are committed daily. Rather, this would relieve the army of the burden of defending the settlers and killing the Palestinians, and would allow the settlers to carry out the task.

On the other hand, Jabarin says that what is required of the Palestinians is to transform this approach into a knot that wraps around the neck of the Israeli government as a result of its extremist policy and approach. This can be achieved with the participation of the international community and with the support of international law if there is political will.

In Jabareen's opinion, the Palestinians should also exploit the "fascism" of the occupation government diplomatically and politically, especially since the behavior of the Netanyahu government could constitute "an opportunity to pounce on the occupation's behavior as a whole, its policies, and its future as well."

The settlers form the back hand of the occupation army and practice killing and daily assaults on the Palestinians without account (Al-Jazeera)

Backhand reinforcement

For his part, the Palestinian researcher on Israeli affairs, Yasser Manna, believes that the calls for arming the settlers are not new, and that the former Israeli Minister of Internal Security, Gilad Ardan, tried to organize the issue by providing weapons to the largest number of settlers, and this is tantamount to "legislation to kill the Palestinians who the occupation works to disarm any weapon." who are they".

And about whether "arming" embarrasses the Israeli army or the occupation government, Manna says that "the settlers are - basically - part of the army and the compulsory conscription system, just as most of the settlements contain the national religious current that is spreading within the military establishment and penetrating all its joints."

The most dangerous thing is that there are settlements such as Eli and Shilo, which are located in the lands south of Nablus - for example - and have centers that qualify settlers to enter the occupation army.

Thus, "the settlers are an active part and represent the back hand of the army."

As for the government, it believes that further arming the settlers will lead to "action and reaction", and thus escalate the confrontation with the Palestinians, which Netanyahu does not want now, which may lead to a state of conflict with the vehicles of his coalition, which is made up of right-wing parties seeking to fuel the conflict further. .

Manna says that this government is extremist, and it is viewed globally - especially the United States of America - with "suspicion";

Thus, it bears part of the responsibility for any escalation.

The researcher adds, "Russia refused to condemn the Jerusalem operation and considered it like the recent Jenin massacre." For Israel, this is a very important point in the world's view of it and in its international relations.

Settlers and the occupation army killed during the year 2022 - according to the Palestine Information Center (Maata), 176 Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem, in addition to 52 Palestinians killed in the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip, in addition to thousands of other violations and attacks.