Palestinian activists have called for reviving the work of the “People’s Guard Committees” to foil attacks by settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank.
In the past, similar committees were formed in several villages near Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah and Nablus. Consisting of activists belonging to various Palestinian factions, the committees operate mostly during the night.
The groups, also called “People’s Protection Committees,” have started operating in some villages near Nablus, where Palestinians complained that they had been attacked by settlers over the past few days, said a senior official with the ruling Fatah faction.
The Palestinians, meanwhile, renewed their call for international protection in response to an increase in settler violence, especially after Thursday’s terror attack during which yeshiva student Yehuda Dimentman was murdered near the Homesh outpost in the Jenin area.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the “settler terrorism” and called on the international community to take urgent action to stop the violence against Palestinians.
The PA accused the Israeli government of encouraging and protecting the settlers.
A statement issued by the PA presidency urged the international community to compel the Israeli government “to stop this terrorism and provide international protection for our people.”
According to the statement, “no one will enjoy stability if the Palestinian people do not enjoy it, and these practices will keep the region in a cycle of violence.”
The PA Foreign Affairs Ministry called on the international community and the US administration to pressure Israel “to stop the settlers’ terrorism, attacks and crimes against defenseless Palestinians and their towns and villages.”
The ministry also called on the United Nations secretary-general to work towards providing international protection for the Palestinians.
The ministry said that it “views with great gravity the escalation of the systematic attacks by settlers” and held the Israeli government “fully and directly” responsible for the settler violence.
Fatah called on Palestinians “to unite and defend their land, homes and properties against the terrorism practiced by settlers and the Israeli occupation army,” according to official PA news agency Wafa.
Fatah spokesperson Osama Qawassmeh said that “Israel and its terrorist tools have increased their aggression and terrorism, and have crossed all lines.”
PLO Executive Committee member Saleh Ra’fat also held the Israeli government fully responsible for settler “crimes.”
The settlers’ actions, Ra’fat said, “come as a result of a culture of hatred, violence and extremism in Israeli society.”
Hamas, for its part, called for stepping up “all forms of resistance” against Israel.
Israel and the settlers “will pay the price for these brutal attacks,” Hamas said in a statement on Friday.
Praising the murder of Dimentman as “heroic,” Hamas added: “Our heroic people are able to defend themselves and respond to the aggression.”