A month-long investigation by CNN exposes the Israeli military for turning a blind eye to the illegal Israeli settlers who set the Palestinian town of Huwara ablaze on the night of February 26, 2023.
A month-long investigation by CNN into the Israeli settlers’ attack on Huwara reveals that the Israeli occupation forces not only failed to prevent the acts of terror on the Palestinian town but were also involved in prolonging and aiding the aggression on Palestinians.
The attacks, which took place on the night of February 26, led to the martyrdom of one Palestinian and the injury of more than a hundred. In addition, the illegal Israeli settlers were intent on burning down the properties of Palestinians in the area including their houses, stores, and cars.
The occupation’s military commander in the West Bank called it a “pogrom” and admitted that the military had not adequately prepared for such attacks.
CNN based its investigation on videos, testimonies, and interviews which revealed that the IOF troops did nothing to prevent the attacks and even responded to the retaliation by Palestinians with tear gas and stun grenades.
The report also highlighted the role of right-wing extremist groups, settler organizations, and several Israeli politicians in instigating and promoting the violence against Huwara.
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, one of the most senior members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, had called on “Isreal” to “wipe out” the Palestinian village of Huwara in the occupied West Bank following the gruesome attack.
WhatsApp groups and social media were used to spread fascist calls for organizing the attacks. Some members of the Israeli Knesset, such as lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech, were found to be part of these groups, according to CNN.
“Right-wing extremist groups on WhatsApp and Telegram have become ticking time bombs,” Achiya Schatz, executive director of Israeli FakeReporter told CNN. “They [Israeli occupation forces] ignored their duty to monitor violent groups and failed to stop the violence during the event. We are extremely worried and uncertain that they are prepared to prevent the next event.”
Another Knesset member, Zvi Sukkot, from Smotrich’s ultra-nationalist Religious Zionism party, tweeted, “Huwara’s killers’ nest needs to be taken care of,” as he later shared a photo of himself among the settlers who attacked the town.
An Israeli soldier told Breaking the Silence, an Israeli NGO, that dozens of troops positioned alongside the so-called “Israeli Border Police” were informed of the pending attack on the town, however, none of them took action against the rioters as he said, “We just let them continue to advance.”
The violence in Huwara was part of an escalating trend of settler attacks in the West Bank, fueled by incendiary rhetoric and the right-wing Israeli government’s support for illegal settlements.
Under international law, the establishment of settlements by an occupying force of its own “people” in the territories it occupies is considered a war crime, however, “Israel”, which has garnered protection from the West, continues to disregard international standards and expand settlements in the internationally recognized 1967 occupied territory.
The investigation revealed instances where Israeli security forces failed to prevent the violence, despite advance warnings and calls for action. Illegal settlers were seen setting fires, throwing stones, and attacking Palestinian residents and their properties. Palestinian testimonies and video evidence supported these accounts.
In the aftermath of the attack, Israeli authorities arrested some of the terrorist settlers, only to later release them with no charges filed against them.
The Palestinian Resistance movement, Hamas, denounced the Israeli judiciary decision to release the terrorist settlers responsible for the Huwara murder, confirming the occupying regime’s racism against Palestinians.
“The Israeli judiciary’s decision to release the terrorist settlers, who carried out the Huwara pogrom in Nablus, confirms once again the occupying Israeli regime’s fascism and racism against the Palestinian nation,” Hamas Spokesperson Hazem Qassem said in a statement on March 4, a few days after the attack.
“The act also shows the regime’s complicity in the crime perpetrated against Palestinians before the eyes of the international community, and thus emboldens Israeli settler militias to exhibit more aggression,” he added.
Source: almayadeen
