Shin Bet warned in advance that the settlers’ violence in Homesh would lead to violence
Jerusalem24 – The Israeli newspaper, Haaretz reported today that a Israeli military and security had warned of the sensitive situation that was emerging in the area; especially in light of the presence of the religious school there.
The newspaper reported that the Shin Bet Intelligence agency and even the Israeli army and police warned against the presence of the religious school in the evacuated settlement. Citing that it could spark extremist action from either side.
According to the newspaper, before the most recent attack by a month settlers attacked five Palestinians who were harvesting olives nearby and one of them was critically injured. It was discovered later that the attackers were from the religious school inside Homesh.
One settler opened fire towards the Palestinians while others threw stones and chased them with sticks and two other Palestinians were injured in the same incident.
The newspaper stated that the Israeli military and security establishment dealt with the event as “exceptional,” and during an assessment of the situation about what happened at the time, some officers confirmed that the sensitive situation might lead to “extremist actions” by any party.
The report pointed out that 10 days after the incident, the military and security establishment decided to evacuate more religious school buildings, due to the presence of settlers in the area in violation of the disengagement law “eviction 2005,”.
Noting that the Israeli army took this step because of its concerns for the security of settlers, and in light of the assessments that the state of tension at that time will lead to more “acts of violence.”
According to an Israeli security source, since the evacuation of the Homesh settlement in 2005, groups of settlers have been returning to it repeatedly and placing temporary buildings in them and being dismantled by the Israeli army from time to time.
The source said, “although the Israeli army has an order to act in a way that would stop this behavior, practically nothing has been done… There is a problem in this issue and political involvement in it affects how decisions are taken.”
Three weeks ago, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz held a special discussion that dealt with the escalation of “settler violence” in the West Bank, in the presence of senior officers from the army, the police, the Shin Bet and other “law enforcement” bodies.
In the meeting he discussed the impact of these events on the behavior of the US administration and the European Union towards Israel. Gantz described the situation as embarrassing, with Israeli senior officials asked to provide explanations for the ongoing attacks against Palestinians.
According to the newspaper, during the same session, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi asked Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai to place more police in the hot spot areas to prevent any attacks by settlers against the Palestinians, which could increase the tension on the ground.
According to Haaretz, the Israeli army is determined to evacuate the evacuated Homesh settlement, and not to allow settlers to return to it again.
An Israeli security source said, “Homaeh should not turn into an Evyitar… He informed the military, the political echelon that he intends to act decisively and prevent the return of settlers to it.”
This comes despite calls from the settlers’ leaders to the Israeli government to establish the religious school in a permanent building in the same area, and thus put pressure on the senior Israeli army commanders in the West Bank. over there.
