This week, Israel has launched several attacks on Palestinians with weapons used in the conflict for the first time in nearly 20 years, including deploying U.S.-made Apache helicopter gunships inside the West Bank and firing a targeted assassination aerial strike. Jewish settlers have also raided Palestinian villages in the West Bank, attacking residents and setting fire to homes and vehicles. Mariam Barghouti, senior Palestine correspondent for Mondoweiss, calls the attacks “an intensification to completely take over Palestine.” She adds that the growing violence is reflective of the leadership of Israel’s minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who recently called for the renewing of Defensive Shield, a military operation which used similar weaponry in 2002 that has been condemned for “crimes against humanity.” This all comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government has agreed to accelerate the process for approving new settlements in the West Bank despite criticism from the United Nations, European Union and United States.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.