Blackened walls, broken windows, burnt cars: the Palestinian city of Hawara, in the occupied West Bank, woke up today to the damage left by the unprovoked attack launched by Israeli settlers last night, after the death of two Jewish settlers, who were killed by Palestinian fire. .

The tension remained unabated today. According to the Israeli military, a new attack by Palestinians killed an Israeli driver today near Jericho in the West Bank. The army stressed that it is looking for the perpetrators. According to the State Department, the driver who was killed was also a US citizen.

With Ramadan and Passover just weeks away, foreign mediators have sought to ease tensions that have risen since the return to power of Benjamin Netanyahu, head of one of the most right-wing governing coalitions in Israel’s history.

The violence comes as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalates sharply despite a rare meeting Sunday between officials from the two sides in Aqaba, Jordan, in which they pledged to “prevent any further violence,” and a slowdown in settlement announcements.

The latest events cast doubt on Netanyahu’s ability to walk a diplomatic tightrope between Washington – which is pushing for a viable compromise – and his own cabinet that includes settler hardliners demanding tough action against Palestinian attacks.

US President Joe Biden thanked Jordanian King Abdullah for “convening this historic meeting”, as White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said of the meeting in Aqaba.

However, shortly after yesterday’s meeting, Israel’s far-right finance minister said he would not agree to any “freeze” on settlement activities in the occupied West Bank, and for its part, the Palestinian armed group Hamas stressed that the meeting in Aqaba was “worthless” ” and that nothing will change.

Today Hamas reported, through its spokesman, Abdel Latif Al-Kanua, that today’s attack in Jericho was a natural consequence of the Israeli attacks.

“They burned everything they found”

On Sunday night, hundreds of Israeli settlers poured into Hawara, a small town in the northern West Bank where tensions are common. They threw stones at Palestinian homes, set buildings, garbage cans and cars on fire.

In the early morning, one spot looked like a car graveyard, with dozens of burned vehicles.

“They burned everything they could find,” resident Kamal Odeh told AFP: “They burned more than 20 buildings, including shops, houses. Even the trees were not spared.”

According to Wazeh Odeh, a member of Hawara municipality, more than 100 cars were set on fire and 30 houses were burnt or damaged.

“We consider these actions terrorist,” an Israeli army official told reporters, estimating that 300 to 400 settlers entered the Palestinian city in a spirit of “revenge.”

Lamar Abusares, a 10-year-old Palestinian, said her house was among those set on fire by settlers: “My mother took us to a corner because there was no safe place, all the windows were broken while we were inside.”

Eight Israelis were arrested, most of whom have since been released, police said.

Reactions

“There can be no justification for terrorism, arson and revenge against civilians,” said UN Middle East peace envoy Thor Wallensland.

The French Foreign Ministry called the violence “unacceptable”, warning it “should not get out of control” against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, territory occupied by Israel since 1967. It also “strongly condemned the attack that claimed the lives of two Israelis”. .

The two Jews were driving in Hawara on Sunday afternoon when they were shot and killed in what the Israeli government called a “Palestinian terrorist attack.” The perpetrators of the attack are still being sought.

Later, a Palestinian was shot and killed while Israeli forces and settlers were in Zaatara, a village near Nablus. The military told AFP it did not shoot the Palestinian.

“We want security, but the responsibility for providing security rests exclusively with the army,” Esti Yaniv, the mother of the two settlers, told reporters today.

Several hundred people attended their funeral in Jerusalem today. Their coffins were draped in Israeli flags and carried by relatives and soldiers, according to an AFP reporter.

This afternoon, the military said suspected Palestinian “terrorists” shot and seriously wounded a motorist near Jericho, saying they had set up roadblocks to find the attackers. The 27-year-old ended up at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.

The State Department announced today that the dead driver, in addition to being Israeli, also had American citizenship. “We condemn the horrific killings of two Israeli brothers near Nablus and today’s killing of an Israeli near Jericho, who – as far as we know – was also an American citizen,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said during a press conference.

Difficult days

“We have difficult days ahead of us,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallad told reporters as he toured the nearly empty streets of Hawara today. Referring to the violent attacks by Jewish settlers, the minister considered “a situation in which citizens take justice into their own hands intolerable”, following similar statements by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, settlement mayors and Netanyahu government officials.

Heading a government that includes several ministers who are settlers themselves, Netanyahu called for “letting the security forces carry out their mission.”

Israeli human rights organizations have denounced a “pogrom”, which is “supported” by the Israeli government, according to the organization “Peace Now”.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of “protecting terrorist acts committed by settlers”.

Four additional army battalions and two border police units have been deployed to the West Bank since Sunday as reinforcements, the Israeli military said.

The Israeli military, which has been ramping up what it calls “anti-terror” operations in the West Bank for nearly a year, carried out its deadliest incursion there last Wednesday since at least 2005, killing 11 Palestinians.

Since the beginning of the year, the conflict has claimed the lives of 63 Palestinians (including fighters and civilians, including minors) and 13 Israelis (including minors and members of the security forces) and one Ukrainian woman, according to an AFP tally compiled by official Israeli and Palestinian sources.