An IDF spokesman acknowledges that the military “failed to prevent” these “very serious” incidents.
June 22 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Israeli Army has said this Thursday that the assault carried out on Wednesday by hundreds of Israeli settlers against the West Bank city of Turmus Aya, which resulted in the death of a Palestinian, is an incident that “generates terrorism”.
Army spokesman Daniel Hagari has acknowledged in statements given to the Army Radio station that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “failed to prevent” the incidents, which he has described as “very serious”.
“This is an incident that creates terror and heightens tensions, that takes the population that is not involved in terrorism and brings it there, while preventing the IDF from fighting terrorism in operational activities,” he said.
For this reason, he has asserted that the Army is carrying out an internal investigation into what happened and has affirmed that lessons will be drawn from the assault on Turmus Aya, as reported by the Israeli newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’. “We will improve”, she has settled.
The assault against the city of Turmus Aya, located in the north of the West Bank, came after similar incidents during the last day after the death of four Israelis in an attack carried out around the Eli settlement. The two Palestinians responsible for the attack were shot dead.
The Palestinian government denounced on Wednesday the attacks carried out by settlers against several towns and criticized that “settler militias and their armed terrorist elements” are “expanding” their attacks against “unarmed Palestinian civilians.”
Increased tensions in recent months have resulted in the deaths of around 175 Palestinians and 25 Israelis, amid fears of a widespread outbreak of violence. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that “all options are open” amid calls within the government coalition for a large-scale operation in the West Bank.