8/16/2024–|Last update: 8/16/202403:48 AM (Makkah Time)
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the Islamic Jihad called for an uprising and confrontation with the settler gangs after a martyr fell in an attack by about 100 armed settlers on the village of Jit, east of Qalqilya, in the northern West Bank.
Hamas mourned the martyr Rashid Mahmoud Sedda, who was killed by settlers’ bullets in the town of Jit. In a statement, the movement called on the Palestinians in the West Bank to rise up in anger against the crimes of the Israeli occupation and to confront the terrorist attacks of the settlers, according to its statement.
Hamas considered the settlers' criminal attack on the village of Jit as conclusive evidence of the occupation's terrorist approach and plans against the Palestinian people and their land in the West Bank.
The movement also stressed that the policy of incursions and assassinations will only increase the Palestinian people's adherence to their land and holy sites.
In turn, the Islamic Jihad Movement said that the attack by about 100 of what it described as settler gangs on the village of Jit, east of Qalqilya Governorate, and their burning of homes and vehicles of citizens, constitutes a “declaration of war on our people in the West Bank.”
The movement considered in a statement that the occupation's siege of the village during the attack is reminiscent of the massacres committed by the Stern Gang, the Irgun, and the Zionist Haganah in 1948, adding that the occupation army's participation in protecting these crimes proves that what is being implemented is a government plan sponsored by what it described as war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu.
The movement said in its statement that it calls on the Palestinian people in every village and city in the West Bank to “continue to confront the settler gangs to protect our land and our children.”
The Palestinian Ministry of Health had previously confirmed the martyrdom of a Palestinian youth by settlers' gunfire in the village of Jit.
Local sources said that about 100 heavily armed settlers infiltrated the village and burned vehicles, homes and agricultural lands under the protection of the occupation army. This brings the number of martyrs killed by settler bullets in the West Bank since last October to 18.
For its part, the occupation army said that dozens of Israelis, including masked men, entered the village of Jit in the West Bank, burned vehicles and buildings, and threw stones and Molotov cocktails.
The Israeli army added in a statement that its forces intervened, dispersed the intruders, removed them and arrested one of them. It indicated that it opened an investigation with the participation of the Shin Bet and security forces regarding the news of the killing of a Palestinian in the village.
Clashes in Jerusalem
In a related context, a number of Palestinians suffered from suffocation from tear gas during clashes that erupted in the Shuafat camp, east of occupied Jerusalem.
Eyewitnesses reported that clashes took place in the camp after Israeli occupation police forces stormed the camp in an attempt to remove an Israeli vehicle carrying a settler who had entered the camp by mistake after being intercepted by Palestinian youths.
The occupation army used tear gas to suppress and disperse the youths, while the Palestinians threw stones at the occupation forces.
In conjunction with its devastating war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation army expanded its operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, while settlers escalated their attacks on Palestinians there, leaving 633 martyrs and about 5,400 wounded, according to official Palestinian data.
With American support, Israel wages a devastating war on Gaza, leaving more than 132,000 dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and deadly famine.