Israeli settler march prompts shutdown of Palestinian areas

Israeli settlers staged a march along a bypass road east of Hebron in the Occupied West Bank, leading Israeli forces to block Palestinian residents from entering their neighbourhoods, as reported by the Middle East Eye via Wafa news agency on December 14th.

This provocative march was conducted by Israelis from the Kiryat Arba settlement, with the march moving towards the Ras and Harat al-Ja’bari areas.

Roads were blocked off to Palestinians by Israeli soldiers, with the closures being done under the guise of Jewish celebrations, most likely Hanukkah, which began on December 14th.

The road closures effectively placed entire neighbourhoods under lockdown, and the mobilisation of settlers seemingly coincide with the tightening of Israel’s military siege across parts of Hebron’s Old City and the area surrounding the Ibrahimi Mosque.

The mosque, which is considered one of the holiest places in Islam, was also previously closed by Israeli forces as nearby Israelis marked the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which began on October 7th.

However, the Ibrahimi Mosque is not the only Islamic holy site to be targeted by Israeli settlers and authorities, as the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Occupied Jerusalem has increasingly been a site of incursions by Jewish settlers who seek to increase the Jewish presence in the region.

Hebron has long been an area under attack, including in 1994 when Jewish supremacist terrorist, Baruch Goldstein, shot dead 29 Muslim worshippers at the Ibrahimi Mosque.

Goldstein was inspired by the teachings of extremist rabbi Meir Kahane, who was praised by Knesset Deputy Speaker Nissim Vaturi in November.

Israel’s National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, was a supporter of Kahane as a teenager, and reportedly once displayed a portrait of Goldstein in his living room.

Ben-Gvir leads the Jewish Power Party (Otzma Yehudit) and has previously led an Israeli incursion into the Al-Aqsa Mosque on October 8th, the second day of Sukkot.

Hebron and its surrounding areas have also been the site of mass arrests since October 2023, including in November 2023, when 40 Palestinians were detained by Israeli authorities.

On November 13th this year, two Palestinian children were shot dead by Israeli forces in Beit Amr, north of Hebron; at least 217 children have been killed throughout the West Bank since October 2023.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 64,700 people has received widespread condemnation. However, concerns are also being raised over the escalating campaign of violence inflicted upon Palestinians in the West Bank and Occupied Jerusalem.

Middle East Eye via Wafa, Maghrebi.org