Israel has continued the arrests campaign in the West Bank, at a time when US President Joe Biden called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to calm the situation there and avoid “pouring gasoline on fire”.
The US officials said that in phone calls with Netanyahu, Biden has expressed concern about settler violence and the growing number of Palestinians who have been killed in the West Bank since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.
Biden told Netanyahu that Israel needs to calm the situation in the West Bank and prevent settler violence against Palestinians — or else risk an explosion of violence there that would make the current crisis even worse, the officials said.
He added that the settlers are “pouring gasoline on fire”.
Meanwhile, the US Department of State sent US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf to the region to push forward efforts to prevent the spillover of the conflict.
“I continue to be alarmed about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank... The deal was made, and they’re attacking Palestinians in places that they’re entitled to be, and it has to stop,” Biden said during a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Since Oct. 7, the settlers have killed five Palestinians in the West Bank while the army killed 100 and arrested 1,500.
Israel fears increasing tension in the West Bank as the war in Gaza continues. In addition to the killing, Israel is also arming the settlers in an unprecedented manner.
The West Bank was fully closed and strict measures were applied to the military checkpoints that have become humiliating passages for Palestinians who have to move between cities.
On Wednesday, the army killed six Palestinians. Four of them were targeted by a drone in Jenin.
A 17-year-old boy, Asid Hamdi Hamidat, was killed on Thursday by Israeli gunfire in the Jalazone camp north of Ramallah, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. His death raises the total number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since the beginning of this year to 313, including 105 since 7 October.
Israel arrested on Thursday over 100 more Palestinians in the West Bank, including seven women at least.
The arrests were mainly in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Salfit, Nablus, and Tubas. Activists from “Hamas”, cadres from “Fatah” and women including Suhair Barghouthi from the village of Kaubar and journalist Lama Khater were arrested.
In a statement, Hamas said that the arrests in the West Bank were part of the aggression against the Palestinian people in a desperate attempt to repress the people’s movement against the fascist occupation.
Hamas stressed that the Palestinians wouldn’t be weakened by the Zionist encroachment on the people’s blood. They wouldn’t be weakened by the arrests or systematic terrorism policy, added the statement.
The Israel army revealed that a total of 1,450 Palestinians, including 700 from “Hamas” have been arrested since Oct. 7.
The total number of prisoners in Israeli custody has now reached approximately 6,700, including 50 females, and more than 1,600 administrative detainees.
These figures don’t include around 4,000 workers from the Gaza Strip who were in Israel when “Hamas” launched its deadly attack on Oct. 7.
