Israel’s Ben-Gvir rebukes police over ‘collective punishment’ of settlers

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir arrives at the scene of a suspected Palestinian shooting attack that killed four people near the Jewish settlement of Eli, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 20, 2023. (Reuters)
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Updated 25 June 2023
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Israel’s Ben-Gvir rebukes police over ‘collective punishment’ of settlers

  • Extremist Minister Ben-Gvir rebukes police over ‘collective punishment’ of settlers amid Palestinian outrage
  • Security chiefs designate settler attacks on villages in West Bank as ‘nationalist terrorism’

RAMALLAH: Cracks widened between Israeli security services and the government on Sunday over violence in the occupied West Bank.

Israel’s security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, rebuked the police for what he called “collective punishment” of Jewish settlers.

His reaction came as a surge of violence in the West Bank, including by Israeli settlers in Palestinian towns and villages, drew international condemnation.




A Palestinian woman sits outside her torched home in the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya. It was set on fire by Jewish settlers who stormed the town. (AP)

In a joint statement on Saturday, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Herzi Halevy, Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar and Inspector General of Police Kobi Shabtai said the settlers’ actions amounted to “nationalist terrorism” which they pledged to fight.

They added recent attacks by Israeli citizens against Palestinians contravened Jewish values.

BACKGROUND

International human rights groups have said some punitive actions by Israel against Palestinians constitute collective punishment, which is considered a war crime under humanitarian law.

“They are national (terrorists) in every sense, and we are committed to confronting them. This violence increases Palestinian terrorism, harms the state of Israel and the international legitimacy of the security forces in their fight against Palestinian terrorism, and causes the security forces to deviate from their primary mission in confronting Palestinian terrorism,” the statement said.

It added that the IDF, Shin Bet and the Israeli Police are committed to working to maintain law and order in the West Bank.

The joint statement emphasized that the IDF will transfer forces and provide reinforcements to prevent incidents of this kind in Judea and Samaria.

The Shin Bet will also expand detentions, including administrative detentions, against security breaches who act violently and extremists in Palestinian villages.

It appealed to local leaders, educators, and community leaders to publicly condemn these acts of violence.

The statement does not indicate a change in the IDF’s policy of dealing with settlers, Israeli military expert Eyal Alima told Arab News.

“The statement is denunciation … and does not represent a fundamental change in how the Israeli security services deal with the settlers’ security threat,” Alina said.

“They and the government are restricted regarding the methods they can practise against the settlers.”

The settlers enjoy great support in Israel, especially from the government, which considers them integral to it as it represents the far right, he said.

Alima said the joint statement reflected the security services’ concern about the danger of continued settler attacks and assaults against the Palestinians, which could lead to a significant escalation in the West Bank.

“The fact is that the defense minister refrained from issuing orders to evacuate seven illegal settlement points established during the last week indicates the discrepancy in the way this government deals with this phenomenon and in the way the army deals with it,” said Alima.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates on Sunday said in response to the statement: “Finally, and in light of the atrocity of settler crimes that organized and armed groups of settlers are still committing in more than one place in the occupied West Bank, the leaders of the occupation army and agencies, including the Shin Bet and the police, were forced to admit the enormity of these crimes to the extent that they were described as terrorism for many years.

It added it was “an explicit, clear, and public recognition of the existence of nationalist terrorism committed by thousands of settlers, while they carry weapons and enjoy public protection from the occupation army and political cover from ministers in the Israeli government.”

The ministry also said that Israel “must be held accountable because it does not carry out its duties to protect the civilian population under its occupation but instead intimidates them and provides protection to those who attack them, which was documented by audio and video cameras, reflecting complicity and coordination at the highest levels between the army and the settlers in every attack, they commit against the Palestinian territories.”

The ministry called on all countries to put settler groups and organizations that commit crimes against Palestinian civilians on their terrorist lists, prosecute their members and prevent them from entering their lands.

The statement came as the IDF announced the arrest of one of its soldiers on Sunday, who took part in settlement attacks against the village of Umm Safa, burning homes and cars and shooting at citizens, on Saturday.

Also on Sunday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan called his Israeli counterpart, Tzachi Hanegbi, and called for the prosecution of “rioters and terrorists” in Palestinian villages.

Hanegbi stated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had condemned acts of “terrorism and rioting” by settlers inside the Palestinian territories and that Tel Aviv was in the process of identifying those responsible for violating the law and bringing them to justice.

Israeli political analyst Yoni Ben Menachem told Arab News that Netanyahu was under US pressure to denounce settler attacks against the Palestinians.

Ben Menachem expected the Israeli security services to take several measures against the settlers, such as administrative detention.

Former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz previously described settler attacks as terrorism.

On Sunday, settlers wrote racist slogans calling for the killing of Arabs on the walls of greenhouses near the Shufa military checkpoint, southeast of Tulkarm.

They also burned crops in the village of Turmusaya, north of Ramallah.

The difficult economic situation for the Palestinians and the continued army and settler attacks were reflected in the Palestinians’ preparations for Eid Al-Adha this week.

Celebrations are being reduced to give more time for visiting relatives and families of martyrs, wounded people and prisoners.

“The Palestinian people are a people of patience and defiance, as they resist no matter how difficult the circumstances are, no matter how targeted the settlers and the Israeli army are,” clerk Taleb Silwadi, a mosque speaker in Ramallah, told Arab News.

“The manifestations of celebration and joy are absent from the atmosphere of this holiday — Eid Al-Adha — due to the difficult conditions that our people and our country are going through,” he said.

“Our religion demands that we not show sadness.”

 

 


Europe’s largest missile maker supplying parts to Israel for bombs used in Gaza

Updated 8 sec ago
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Europe’s largest missile maker supplying parts to Israel for bombs used in Gaza

  • GBU-39 bombs identified as having killed civilians, including children
  • UN special rapporteur: ‘Genocide continues because it is lucrative for many’

LONDON: Parts made by Europe’s largest missile maker are being used in bombs launched by Israel in airstrikes on Gaza, an investigation has found.

A joint report by The Guardian, Disclose and Follow the Money discovered that components produced by MBDA are used to construct the GBU-39 bomb. 

Wing-like parts, called Diamond-Blacks and manufactured at MBDA’s plant in Alabama, are fitted to the 250 lb GBU-39, which is made by Boeing, allowing the bomb to manoeuver mid-air toward targets. 

The GBU-39 is sent to Israel as part of the US military aid program, bought directly from Boeing and transferred from American military stocks.
Deployed aerially from fighter jets over combat zones, an estimated 4,800 have been sent to Israel since the Gaza war began in October 2023.

Open-source analysis found that the weapon has been deployed at least 24 times in Gaza in incidents where civilians, including children, were killed.
The attacks often came at night, targeting shelters including school buildings, camps and a mosque. At least 500 people have been killed in the identified cases, including more than 100 children.

The UN and Amnesty International have both raised concerns that a number of incidents involving GBU-39s amount to war crimes.

Donatella Rovera, a senior investigator at Amnesty, told The Guardian: “Those launching attacks have a legal duty to take precautions so as to avoid harming civilians — even in cases where there may be a military target at the location — including by not striking locations full of civilians.”

Last year, Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended a number of arms export licenses to Israel over fears that UK-made equipment could be used to commit “serious violations” of international law in Gaza.

But campaigners told The Guardian that the use of Diamond-Black wings, manufactured in the US, shows the limits of the UK government’s measures, which cannot ban the export of items made overseas by sister companies of British firms.

Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, said in a report last month that numerous private sector firms continue to arm Israel despite warnings of human rights violations, war crimes and genocide in Gaza. 

“The present report shows why the genocide carried out by Israel continues: because it is lucrative for many,” she added.

Sam Perlo-Freeman, research coordinator at Campaign Against the Arms Trade, told The Guardian: “We would support the UK government taking all actions that are within their powers to stop the genocide.
“Beyond an arms embargo, this includes sanctions on companies arming Israel, banning UK investments in such companies.”

MBDA’s code of ethics states that it is “committed to taking the utmost care in identifying and preventing negative direct and indirect impacts our activities may have on human rights, fundamental freedoms and people health and safety.”


Israeli strikes on south Lebanon kill two

Updated 26 min 25 sec ago
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Israeli strikes on south Lebanon kill two

  • Two people were killed Thursday in separate Israeli strikes on south Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry said

BEIRUT: Two people were killed Thursday in separate Israeli strikes on south Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry said, in the latest attacks despite a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The ministry said that “an Israeli drone strike targeted a car” in the Nabatiyeh district, killing one person and wounding two others.
Another strike “targeted a truck in the town of Naqura” in southern Lebanon “resulting in one martyr,” it said in a statement.
The Israeli army did not immediately comment on the incidents.
Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November ceasefire seeking to end over a year of hostilities with Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Under the agreement, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the region.
Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from the country but has kept them in five places it deems strategic.


Belgian court orders regional government to stop military exports to Israel

Updated 41 min 4 sec ago
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Belgian court orders regional government to stop military exports to Israel

  • Belgian court orders regional government to stop military exports to Israel, Belga reports

BRUSSELS: A court in Brussels on Thursday ordered the regional Flemish government to stop all transit of military equipment to Israel, Belgian news agency Belga reported.
The region is home to the Antwerp-Bruges port — one of the largest in Europe.


Israel to boost defense spending by $12.5 billion amid regional conflicts on multiple fronts

Updated 57 min 40 sec ago
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Israel to boost defense spending by $12.5 billion amid regional conflicts on multiple fronts

  • The budget is expected to enable the Defense Ministry to advance urgent deals critical to national security, a statement said

JERUSALEM: Israel will increase defense spending by 42 billion shekels ($12.5 billion) this year and in 2026, the finance and defense ministries announced on Thursday, citing mounting security challenges.

The budget agreement will enable the Defense Ministry to "advance urgent and essential procurement deals critical to national security," the ministries said in a joint statement.

The funding boost comes as Israel remains engaged on multiple regional fronts, including its ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, marked by heavy casualties and widespread destruction. As well as cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and recent strikes with Iran last month in an unprecedented escalation between the two countries.

Israel has also intensified its airstrikes in Syria, targeting sites near the presidential palace and the defense ministry in central Damascus. Meanwhile, it has carried out a series of aerial attacks on Houthi positions in Yemen in response to Houthi attacks. 


Drone attack targets Tawke oilfield in Iraq’s Kurdistan

Updated 17 July 2025
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Drone attack targets Tawke oilfield in Iraq’s Kurdistan

BAGHDAD: A drone attack targeted Norwegian oil and gas firm DNO's oilfield in Tawke in the Zakho Administration area of northern Iraq on Thursday, according to the Kurdistan region's counter-terrorism service.
It is the second attack on the DNO-operated field amid a wave of drone attacks that began early this week.