Domestic, foreign tensions rise up in Israel
Israeli forces tightened their grip on towns in the West Bank on Monday night and Tuesday morning as settlers continued their attacks on Palestinians throughout the occupied territory amid flared up domestic tensions following the internal disputes among Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.
Israeli security forces set up military checkpoints at entrances to Jericho and prevented people from leaving the city as Palestinians were still reeling from rampages by settlers that left swathes of the town of Hawara burned and hundreds of residents, local sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
They also carried out raids looking for the perpetrator of Monday's killing of an Israeli-American motorist by suspected Palestinian gunmen, the sources said.
Otzma Yehudit Party, led by hardline Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, accused Netanyahu of being irresponsible and submitting to terrorism after the Likud Party, led by Netanyahu, refused to boycott the parliamentary session.
Likud officials considered Otzma Yehudit's boycott of the session "an irresponsible act against the right-wing government. When there is a left-wing vote against the right-wing government, everyone must attend."
Meanwhile, the head of the Noam Party, Avi Maoz, announced his resignation from his position as deputy minister in Netanyahu's government, in light of the latter's procrastination in implementing the coalition agreements which grant Maoz power in the ministries of education, health and social welfare.
However, things are not looking good for Israel on the foreign policy front as well.
The UAE on Monday requested an “immediate” UN Security Council meeting to discuss the worsening violence in the occupied Palestinian territories.
UN diplomats told The National that the meeting would take place at 3pm in New York on Tuesday and would feature Norwegian diplomat Tor Wennesland, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process.
In a statement issued on Monday, Lana Nusseibeh, UAE's Ambassador to the UN, said she is "deeply concerned" about the escalating violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and called for the UN Security Council meeting to address it "immediately."
"These are not isolated incidents—they’re part of a pattern of violence and unilateral actions that are costing lives and hampering the prospects for a two-State solution," she said.
Meanwhile, following settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid slammed the coalition government on Monday and accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "losing control" over Israel's security.
"What happened [on Sunday] is complete anarchy," Lapid told his party, Yesh Atid, referring to the settler violence at the Palestinian village of Huwara. "This anarchy is created because in this government, everyone has their own policy."
This is while some Israeli officials are urging Netanyahu to launch a military operation on Palestinian Authority (PA).
The head of the Settlements Council in the occupied West Bank, Yossi Dagan on Monday called on Netanyahu to launch a military operation against the PA.
"We demand from our government to uproot all sources of terrorism, and collect all weapons in the West Bank," Dagan was quoted by Channel 12 as saying.
The Israeli official also urged Netanyahu "to restrict the movement of militants and re-establish security checkpoints." Describing the PA as a "terrorist organization", Dagan stressed that the authority was behind the "wave of operations against Israelis."