Visit to the West Bank
Israeli settlers observe Baerbock with a drone
January 8, 2024, 4:28 p.m
During her visit to the West Bank, Foreign Minister Baerbock experienced what it was like to be intimidated by Israeli settlers. A drone circles above their delegation. The Green politician calls on Israel to put an end to the activities of the radical population.
During her visit to the West Bank, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock urged Israel to better protect the Palestinian population from attacks by violent settlers. After a conversation with residents of the village of al-Masraa al-Kiblija who were being harassed by settlers, Baerbock spoke of “intimidation that happens here on site every day.” The town with around 5,000 inhabitants is surrounded by several Israeli settlements.
While Baerbock was talking to the residents on the outskirts of town, a drone flew from the direction of the Jewish settlement post to al-Masraa al-Kiblija; It circled above the minister and her interlocutors for a moment – and then flew back again. The drone came “obviously to see and hear what we are doing here,” said Baerbock. “A drone that circles over the people who actually live here every day in order to obviously scare them away and drive them away from here.”
One affected farmer described, among other things, that he could no longer cultivate his vegetable and fruit fields because the settlers had blocked roads and attacked him and his family. He was hit in the head and sprayed with pepper spray. The 70-year-old retired teacher said his daughters were also attacked. The Israelis tried to set houses on fire and drove him out of his house, which is in a valley between the Palestinian town and the settlement. Settler violence increased again after the terrorist attack on Israel by the Islamist Hamas on October 7th.
Baerbock said: “It is the responsibility of the Israeli army to protect Palestinians from violent settlers.” In addition, it is the “responsibility of the Israeli government to implement and enforce the rule of law in the event of attacks on people who live here legitimately and who are attacked illegally.” The Green politician continued: “What is happening here is illegal – illegal under Israeli law and illegal under international law.”
“Palestinian life is impossible here”
After her conversation with the villagers, the minister reported on “people who can no longer go to their own homes, who can no longer go to their own fields.” Many people here can no longer live here “for fear of violence from radical settlers who have settled right next to their own homes. Their children can no longer go to school here, and they can no longer harvest their crops here.” Baerbock added: “That means Palestinian life is impossible here.”
In 2000, Jewish settlers had established an illegal outpost on the hill opposite al-Masraa al-Kiblija. Since then there have been repeated clashes. The Federal Foreign Minister emphasized the call for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. She emphasized: “Settlement construction is illegal. It undermines lasting peace and endangers the two-state solution and thus also endangers Israel’s security.” The two-state solution means that Israel and an independent, democratic Palestinian state coexist peacefully.
In Ramallah, Baerbock met Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki. In the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel conquered, among other things, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Hundreds of thousands of settlers now live there among around three million Palestinians. The Palestinians are demanding the territories for their own state.