Thousands of Israelis march to an illegal outpost in the West Bank as tensions rise

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Thousands of Israelis, including ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government, marched to an evacuated Jewish outpost in the West Bank on Monday in support of settlements viewed as illegal under international law.

As tensions rose between Israelis and Palestinians, Israelis from all over the country traveled to the outpost of Eviatar waving Israeli flags and chanting religious songs and slogans during the week of the Passover holiday.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that Israeli forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas at stone-throwing Palestinian demonstrators near Beita, injuring 17 people with rubber bullets and two with gas canisters in the head.

More than 90 Palestinians and at least 19 Israelis and foreigners have been killed since January.

In a statement, the Samaria Regional Council, which represents settlers in the northern West Bank, quoted its leader, Yossi Dagan, as telling the participants that the settlements are the response to what he described as a wave of terrorism.

“They now understand why I was pushing for the creation of a National Guard,” Itamar Ben Gvir, the far-right security chief in Netanyahu’s government, said at the Israeli demonstration.

Next to a tight guard on Monday, Ben Gvir was delegated last week to head the National Guard focused on Arab unrest.

Netanyahu declined to give him direct command after his political opponents expressed concern that the force would become a sectarian militia.

Many countries view the Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which were captured from Jordan in the 1967 war, as a violation of international law. Israel disputes this and cites biblical and historical connections to the land, as well as security needs.

The mother of two Israeli sisters killed last week in a shooting attack in the occupied West Bank has died of her injuries, hospital officials said Monday. All three had dual citizenship of Israel and Britain.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Twitter: “Tragic news of Leah Dee’s death, also in the aftermath of the abhorrent attacks in the West Bank.” “There can be no justification for the killing of Leah and her two daughters, Maya and Rina.”

The Israeli forces are still trying to track down the perpetrator of the attack.

Israel’s far-right government, which took power in late December, supports recognizing and expanding Jewish settlements in West Bank territory where the Palestinians envision an independent state in the future.

And last month, the Israeli parliament paved the way for the return of Jewish settlers to four settlements in the West Bank by amending a 2005 law ordering their eviction, a move condemned by the Palestinian Authority and the European Union.

In February, Israel granted retroactive recognition to eight illegal West Bank outposts, which have also been condemned by international organizations. These did not include Evyatar.

Since the 1967 war, Israel has established some 140 settlements on land Palestinians consider the core of a future state. Besides the authorized settlements, groups of settlers built dozens of outposts without government permission.

US-sponsored statehood talks have stalled since 2014 while Jewish settlements have expanded.

(Reporting by Emily Rose). Editing by Hugh Lawson and Howard Goller

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