UN-Truth

The Israeli Defense Forces announced today that “Overnight an IDF force identified a number of Palestinians infiltrating the Israeli community of Barqan [n.b. in the northern West Bank]. A night-watch that was set by the IDF because of numerous attempts made to infiltrate the community in the past few weeks identified last night’s attempt. The force identified the infiltrators, one of them suspected to be armed and opened fire. [What does this mean? Was it a private militia that fired?] One of the infiltrators died as a result, and the other escaped. IDF soldiers have been searching the area. Following the incident, the Head of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai, contacted the commanders of the Palestinian organizations and called them to conduct a joint investigation into the incident. In addition, messages were delievered to senior Palestinian officials in order to avert tension in the region. The civil administrations’ call for a joint investigation was accepted and a Palestinian representative has already arrived on site. Additional details of the incident are being reviewed [perhaps this is referring to the fact that the victim was merely "suspected" before he was shot and killed...]

Fox News reported that “The Palestinians called the shooting ‘irresponsible’. Ghassan Khatib, a Palestinian Authority spokesman … identified the man as Bilal Abu Libdeh, 35, from the northern West Bank city of Qalqiliya. He said Abu Libdeh was found to be unarmed when his body was recovered and that no one knew why he and the others sought to enter the settlement. ‘Regardless of the reason for them going there, they shouldn’t be killed’, he said”. This is posted here.

One of the points being debated, as “proximity” talks may soon melt into direct talks that may last for years, is whether or not the Israeli Jewish settlers can remain in the West Bank in any future scenario; maybe they can retain their Israeli citizenship and become residents of Palestine, subject to its laws, some suggest.

But former Defense Ministry official Shlomo Gazit said at a discussion organized by IPCRI (Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information) last week that there is no way Palestinian security can protect settlers who remain in the West Bank after the creation of a future Palestinian state — this can only be done by the IDF, he said.

An Israeli journalist who attended the discussion said that he believes there is no way any settlers can remain in the West Bank, because their mere presence will be an invitation to violence … of the sort that killed the merely “suspected” Bilal Abu Libdeh overnight.

Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians