4 European Countries Strongly Condemn Settler Violence in the West Bank

France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom strongly condemned today, Thursday, the significant increase in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians, and called on Israel to protect the residents of the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967.

This came in a statement issued by the four countries, amid Israel intensifying its military operations in the West Bank and continuing its bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

The foreign ministers of the four countries stated in the statement, "We - France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom - strongly condemn the alarming escalation of violence by settlers against Palestinian civilians, and we call for stability in the West Bank."

The foreign ministers emphasized that "these attacks must stop. They instill terror among civilians and undermine the current efforts to achieve peace and ensure lasting security for the State of Israel itself."

The ministers also welcomed President Donald Trump's "clear opposition" to the annexation of the West Bank. They reiterated their opposition to "any form of annexation, whether partial or total or de facto, as well as to settlement measures that violate international law."

200 Operations

This statement coincides with the occupation army carrying out 200 raids, arrests, searches, and detentions in several areas of the occupied West Bank.

According to Al Jazeera correspondent in Palestine, Muhammad Al-Atrash, these operations took place in Tubas, the Al-Far'a camp, and the towns of Tammoun, Tayaseer, and Aqaba in the northern West Bank, with some of the targeted homes being turned into military barracks after their residents were expelled.

Al-Atrash reported that a family from Tubas, which was evicted by the occupation forces twice in the past two days, stated that most of the targeted homes belong to prisoners or martyrs, while the occupation claims it is targeting places that were the starting points for operations carried out by resistance fighters.

Palestinians see what is happening in these areas as nothing more than an attempt to take revenge on these prisoners and martyrs without any security need, especially since it included the arrest of released prisoners, as the Al Jazeera correspondent says.

The occupation is currently besieging the city of Tubas, which is home to 70,000 Palestinians, and continues to cut it off with checkpoints and security patrols spread throughout, arresting anyone who does not comply with the complete curfew imposed for the past two days, including journalists.