Violence against Palestinians
US withholds weapons for Israel because of radical settlers
December 14, 2023, 12:30 p.m
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Since the terrorist attack on Israel, violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank has increased. The White House is “deeply concerned” about this – and, according to a media report, is now even hesitant to provide rifles to the Israeli police.
According to a newspaper report, the USA is reluctant to deliver more than 27,000 rifles intended for Israel’s police. President Joe Biden’s government is concerned that the weapons could end up in the hands of radical settlers in the West Bank, the Wall Street Journal wrote, citing unnamed government officials.
Israel’s previous assurances that the rifles – including the M4 and M16 models – would only remain with the police were therefore not enough. The US State Department has therefore called for concrete steps to curb the violence against Palestinians committed by settlers in the West Bank, the newspaper continued. The US fears that the violence in the West Bank could lead to a regional conflict.
Since terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups from the Gaza Strip murdered around 1,200 people in attacks in Israel’s border area on October 7th, there has been an increase in attacks in the West Bank. Violence against Palestinians there has reached an “unprecedented level,” said Lynn Hastings, representative of the UN emergency agency OCHA for the Palestinian territories.
Israel’s right-wing extremist Police Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announced shortly after Hamas’ large-scale attack that he wanted to equip thousands of volunteers with assault rifles in the border area with the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank. According to the Wall Street Journal, at a fundraiser this week, Biden called the minister by name in a speech and said that he and “the new people (…) don’t want anything remotely close to a two-state solution.” They also wanted retaliation not only against Hamas, but “against all Palestinians,” Biden added, according to the newspaper.