Israeli occupation forces killed a young Arab man from the city of Kafr Qassem last Friday morning, as unchecked crimes against Palestinians rage on in the deadliest year in the occupied territories since 2005.
Twenty-three-year-old Mahmoud Naim Badir was killed when the Israeli occupation forces claimed he was carrying out an alleged shooting and ramming attack, injuring two Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli forces claimed that the suspect phoned in a false report of a violent incident in Kafr Qassem – northeast of the city of Tel Aviv in the occupied territories – to draw first responders and then opened fire when they arrived.
The Israeli military claimed two of its forces were injured during the incident.
The family of the dead Palestinian man said: ‘The Israeli forces killed our son Naim Badir in cold blood, and the Israeli story of our son carrying out an attack on Israeli forces is a false claim.’
Naim’s family went on to say that ‘the police, after killing our son, stormed the house and destroyed it completely in front of children, who screamed, cried, and were terrified by the Israelis’ violent behaviour.’
Earlier in November, Israeli forces shot dead a young Palestinian man in the Ariel settlement in the West Bank city of Salfit, after he allegedly killed three settlers in a stabbing and car ramming attack.
Israeli occupation forces and settlers have been escalating their attacks against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and other occupied areas, in an attempt to forcibly expel Palestinians from their lands and make way for expanding illegal Israeli settlements.
Since the start of 2022, Israeli troops have killed more than 220 Palestinians, including more than 50 children, in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem as well as in the besieged Gaza Strip.
According to the United Nations (UN), the number of Palestinians killed by Israel in the occupied West Bank this year is the highest it has been in 16 years.
The resistance movement Islamic Jihad has called for expansion of unity among the Palestinians in the face of Israel’s endless crimes against Palestinian youths across the occupied territories.
The group issued a statement on Friday, reacting to the latest killings.
Islamic Jihad said: ‘Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians in the occupied territories will never undermine the steadfastness of the nation.
‘We call for increased popular solidarity and unity to target occupiers and prevent their stability.’
Meanwhile, The United States embassy in occupied East Jerusalem is considering rejecting visas to Israelis involved in violence against Palestinians who have seen a dramatic rise in military and settler attacks in the occupied West Bank.
According to the Tel Aviv-based Hayom daily newspaper, the policy aims ‘to encourage Israel to adopt necessary measures to restrain unbridled violence and willingness by Israeli settlers to participate in violent acts against Palestinians’.
According to United States visa regulations, anyone involved in violent acts is not eligible to enter the country. However, these rules have rarely been used against Israelis.
A US State Department spokesperson noted that ‘visa applications are adjudicated on a case-by-case basis in accordance with all applicable law.’
The spokesman said: ‘We have been clear about our deep concerns over the increase in Israeli-Palestinian violence.’
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has named 2022 as the deadliest year for Palestinians since 2005.
Israeli forces and settlers have been escalating their attacks in the West Bank and other occupied areas, in an attempt to forcibly expel Palestinians to make way for the expansion of Jewish-only settlements.
And this year alone, Israeli troops have killed at least 220 Palestinians, including more than 50 children, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as well as in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Responding to the violence, Palestinians have killed 29 Israelis, including soldiers, in the same period – which marks the highest number since 2008.
Israelis have also been trying to enter the United States under its Visa Waiver Programme. The Biden administration is expected to announce shortly whether Israeli settlers meet the basic conditions or not.
Back in October, the US Department of Homeland Security informed Israeli officials that they are not eligible for the programme, citing failure to fairly treat American citizens.
Assistant Secretary of Homeland Land Security, Alice Lugo, said in a letter to a US lawmaker:
‘Israel does not currently meet all (Visa Waiver Programme) designation requirements, including extending reciprocal visa-free travel privileges to all US citizens and nationals’.
In the same month, 20 US House of Congress members sent a letter to the Biden administration urging the US not to include Israel in the programme, saying that Tel Aviv must first address a number of issues that US citizens face at the hands of Israeli authorities.
Lawmakers pointed out that Israel does not allow US citizens with ‘dual citizenship from five countries’ to visit the occupied West Bank, and also rejects entry of Americans who hold ‘political positions deemed unacceptable by the Israeli authorities’.
Back in 2019, Israel barred US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian American, from entering the occupied territories, forcing her to cancel a trip she had planned to the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
It is known that Israel has been in deliberations with US authorities for several years to include it in the Visa Waiver Programme, which would allow Israelis to stay in the United States for 90 days for tourism or business.
- The Egyptian government is apparently delaying the implementation of a controversial treaty that transfers two largely uninhabited islands to Saudi Arabia, and is paving the way for the Riyadh regime to take steps toward normalising relations with Israel.
The deal, to hand over the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir, was agreed during a visit to Egypt by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in April 2016.
It was backed by Egypt’s parliament in June 2017.
As part of the agreement, the US-led multinational force of observers, who have been present on Tiran for years, are required to leave the islands by the end of December.
It sparked rare protests in Egypt, with President Abdul Fattah el-Sisi being accused of ‘selling’ the islands in return for Saudi financial aid.
Senior Israeli officials told a press conference that Cairo has been raising reservations, mostly of a technical nature, over the past few weeks.
Among the sticking points is the installation of cameras on the islands that were part of the agreement. The cameras are supposed to monitor activity on Tiran and Sanafir, as well as in the Strait of Tiran.
Israeli officials said the withdrawal of the multinational force from the islands won’t be implemented by the end of December due to the Egyptian reservations.
The officials told the press they believe the Egyptian government is holding up the deal due to US-Egypt bilateral issues, including American military assistance.
Last week, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Sisi who was in Washington for the US-Africa summit.
According to US and Israeli sources, Sullivan raised the issue of the Red Sea islands deal during a bilateral meeting, and stressed that the Biden administration wants it implemented.
When Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Barbara Leaf, visited Cairo last October, Egyptian officials told her they expect the administration to transfer the full amount of military assistance if it really sees relations as strategic.
Back on July 14th, it was reported that Israel had approved the provisions of an agreement on the strategic islands of Tiran and Sanafir in the Red Sea, which prepared the ground for the official normalisation of ties between Saudi Arabia and the Tel Aviv regime.
The report added that Unites Sates officials had been ‘quietly negotiating’ the deal between the two sides for months.
Under the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty, Egypt took control of Tiran and Sanafir as the sides agreed to demilitarise the islands and to allow the presence of a multinational observer force to remain.
