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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 11 april 2023

In mass rally, Israeli settlers march to West Bank outpost

By ILAN BEN ZION
Associated Press
JERUSALEM (AP) — Thou-
sands of Israelis led by at
least seven Cabinet minis-
ters marched Monday to
an evacuated West Bank
settlement, in a defiant sig-
nal that Israel's most right-
wing government in history
is determined to acceler-
ate settlement building on
occupied lands despite in-
ternational opposition.
The mass rally also threat-
ened to further raise ten-
sions that have been
heightened by days of un-
rest across the region over
a contested Jerusalem holy
site. In new violence, Israeli
troops killed a 15-year-old
Palestinian boy during an
arrest raid in the occupied National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir greets people at the outpost of Eviatar in the West Bank,
West Bank, while a 48-year- Monday, April 10, 2023. Associated Press
old Israeli woman died of
wounds sustained in an at- Knesset were taking part in the march. At the outpost, for a second consecutive
tack last week that killed the march. inflatable slides were set day. These tours by reli-
two of her daughters. Speaking at the march, up for children to jump and gious and nationalist Jews
Monday's march took Ben-Gvir said "we are here play on. have increased in size and
place in the northern West to say that the Israeli nation The march passed without frequency in recent years,
Bank — the scene of re- is strong" and that "we are major violence, though Is- raising fears by Palestinians
peated violence in recent here and will remain here." raeli troops fired tear gas at that Israel may partition the
months. Thousands of Israeli Monday's march ap- Palestinians in the nearby site. Israel insists it has no in-
police and army forces peared to be aimed in part village of Beita who hurled tention of changing a long-
were reportedly deployed at shoring up support for stones toward soldiers to standing arrangement that
to secure the march, which Israeli hard-liners like Ben- protest the march. The permits Jewish visits, but not
added to the already Gvir. Palestinian Red Crescent worship, at the Muslim-ad-
combustible atmosphere Recent polls have shown medical service said two ministered shrine.
that has accompanied the a sharp drop in support people, including a jour- Last week, Palestinians bar-
overlap of major Jewish for the new hard-line gov- nalist, were shot by Israeli ricaded themselves inside
and Muslim holy days. Ten- ernment in the wake of rubber bullets, while 115 Al-Aqsa with stones and
sions between Israelis and months of violence, includ- people suffered from tear firecrackers, demanding
Palestinians have reached ing growing dissatisfaction gas inhalation. A video cir- the right to pray there over-
a fever pitch in recent among people who voted culated on social media night, something Israel has
weeks surrounding the Je- for it. showed a tear gas canister in the past only allowed
rusalem shrine. A poll on Channel 13 TV landing next to a Palestin- during the last 10 days of
The march to Eviatar, an found that 60% of respon- ian journalist as he deliv- Ramadan. Police removed
unauthorized settlement dents said they do not trust ered a TV report. them by force, detaining
outpost in the northern the government to deal Tensions between Israel hundreds and leaving doz-
West Bank that was evacu- with the current wave of and the Palestinians have ens injured.
ated by the previous Israeli violence, compared to soared following last week's The violence was followed
government in 2021, was 27% who do trust it. The police raid on Jerusalem's by rocket fire by Palestin-
being led by hard-line ultra- poll questioned 699 people Al-Aqsa Mosque com- ian militants from the Gaza
nationalist Jewish settlers. and had a margin of error pound during the Muslim Strip, southern Lebanon,
Daniella Weiss, another set- of 3.7 percentage points. holy month of Ramadan. and Syria starting Wednes-
tler leader, told Kan pub- Visits to Eviatar have been The hilltop compound day, and Israeli airstrikes
lic radio that the ministers' officially banned by the mil- where the mosque sits is the targeting those areas.
participation in the march itary since its evacuation, emotional ground zero of Recent days have also
could be a "therapy for the but that prohibition has the Israeli-Palestinian con- seen Palestinian attacks
government to free your- been loosely enforced in flict. For Jews, it is known that killed two British-Israeli
selves from the dictates of recent months. Israeli army as the Temple Mount, their sisters and an Italian tourist.
the U.S. and Europe" con- spokesman Lt. Col. Richard faith's holiest site and the On Monday, Israel's Hadas-
cerning West Bank settle- Hecht said the military ap- place where two Temples sah hospital announced
ment. proved Monday's march, stood in antiquity. For Mus- the death of Lucy Dee, the
Several members of his saying it would be "highly lims, it is known as the No- mother of the two sisters.
Cabinet, including Finance monitored and highly pro- ble Sanctuary, home of the Lucy Dee, who was trav-
Minister Bezalel Smotrich tected." Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third eling with her daughters,
and National Security Minis- Scores of families, nearly holiest site in Islam. had been hospitalized in
ter Itamar Ben-Gvir — both all of them Orthodox Jews, Dozens of Jewish visitors en- critical condition since Fri-
West Bank settlers — and many of them pushing tered the site on Monday day's shooting in the West
at least 20 members of the baby strollers, took part in escorted by Israeli police Bank.q