Middle East Crisis

Reactions to the ceasefire
Defense sources: Government fuels settler violence against Palestinians

The Israeli government and its agencies are encouraging settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. This is claimed by several defense sources who spoke to the Israeli Haaretz.

According to the sources, the police have remained passive when settlers have carried out violent attacks on Palestinian villages and set houses and cars on fire in protest against the ceasefire. When the army alerts the police, it can take up to 90 minutes before a patrol is sent out.

Despite the attacks being planned openly on social media, nothing is being done to prevent them, writes DN. The defense minister has recently decided that settlers suspected of preparing for terrorism can no longer be placed in preventive detention.

– Now they believe they can do whatever they want without anyone arresting them, says one of Haaretz's defense sources.

Ceasefire
Gaza residents dig for dead – 10,000 believed to remain

During the first days of the ceasefire, around 200 bodies have been dug out of the rubble after Israeli bombardments in Gaza, Reuters reports. Unidentified body parts of many more have been found, and the Palestinian Civil Defense estimates that another 10,000 who were reported missing remain under the rubble.

The search is complicated by a lack of both equipment and personnel. 99 of the Civil Defense employees have been killed and 319 injured in the Israeli bombings, a spokesman quoted by Haaretz states.

At least 2,500 bodies are estimated to have been completely destroyed by powerful bombs.

Mahmoud Abu Dalfa knows that his wife and five children are dead. They and 30 other relatives were in a building hit by an Israeli airstrike in December 2023. He is still searching for their bodies, he told Reuters:

“I hope to get them out and bury them. That’s the only thing I want in the world right now.”