Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Heats Up After Deadly Raid, Synagogue Shooting

Tensions are high between Israel and the Palestinian Authority after a series of deadly raids and attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank reached a level of violence not seen in years.

Summary

Tensions are high between Israel and the Palestinian Authority after a series of deadly raids and attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank reached a level of violence not seen in years.

• A gunman killed seven people and wounded three others in a shooting attack outside a Jerusalem synagogue on Friday night before he was shot by police and killed. The attacker was identified as a 21-year-old Palestinian who apparently acted alone. The shooting was the deadliest attack on Israelis since 2008.
• The terrorist attack came one day after Israel conducted a raid in the West Bank that killed ten Palestinians, including at least eight militants. The Israeli operation was the West Bank’s deadliest single raid in over twenty years.
• At least 34 Palestinian militants and civilians have been killed this month, including the ten killed in Thursday’s raid in Jenin. In addition, Israeli police arrested 42 people in connection with the synagogue shooting.
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government sealed the home of the synagogue shooter ahead of its demolition and approved an order to seal the home of the 13-year-old boy who wounded two Israelis on Saturday.
• The 13-year-old shooter was wounded in the attack and is now hospitalized. Netanyahu’s Cabinet is also considering stripping the attackers’ families of social security benefits and citizenship and deporting them.
• The Netanyahu government plans to “strengthen the settlements” in the West Bank in the wake of the attacks and in response to widespread Palestinian celebrations after the synagogue attack.
• The Cabinet approved measures making it easier for Israeli civilians to carry guns after the two attacks. “When civilians have guns, they can defend themselves,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir told reporters.
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to visit Israel and the West Bank this week amid the rising violence. U.S. officials told AP News. Blinken’s mission will be one of “de-escalation” and mark the highest-level U.S. engagement with Israel since Netanyahu returned to power in December.

• The New York Times reported a Palestinian man was shot and killed on Sunday amid a spate of 150 attacks against Palestinians by Israelis living in the West Bank. More than 20 people have been killed since Thursday.
• The Guardian outlined other punitive measures under consideration by Netanyahu’s government. They may introduce legislation allowing employers to fire workers who have “supported terrorism” without a hearing and making it easier to demolish homes of Palestinians who carry out terrorist attacks.
• CNN’s Hadas Gold heard “what sounded like celebratory gunfire and car horns honking” in a “nearby predominantly Palestinian neighborhood” after Friday’s attack at the synagogue. The Whtie House condemned it was a “heinous terror attack” while pledging “full support” for Israel.

• The Wall Street Journal wrote the “recent spiral of violence” would be “the first major security test for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new right-wing and religiously conservative government.”
• According to Fox News, the 13-year-old Palestinian who wounded two Israelis in Saturday’s shooting attack was stopped by an armed civilian. The suspect would later be shot by police before he could flee the scene.
• Breitbart condemned the New York Times for referring to the two Palestinian terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians as “spasms of violence” that Israel in some way had coming because it elected a right-wing government.

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© Dominic Moore, 2023