Tel Aviv – In response to a terrorist attack, Israelite officials decided to dispatch two battalions to West Bank in Israel on Thursday.
On Wednesday night, two armed individuals arrived at a Tel Aviv shopping mall armed with what witnesses called rifles and opened fire randomly on people. The events took place at the Sarona Market, a culinary market in the center of the city. The attack resulted in four fatal victims and several other wounded.
Police officers caught two suspects and identified them as Palestinians from the village of Yatta, near the city of Hebron in the West Bank. The Israelite government froze work permits of 204 relatives and associates. In addition to not being able to work, these people cannot leave or enter Yatta. Khalid, a 21-year-old student at the University of Jordan, was named as one of the attackers. His father told the press he was surprised because his son had not shown signs of having political or religious alliances in the past.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the agency was going to dispatch two full battalions to West Bank in order to extinguish possible further threats. Although, he did not say how they were going to do this. In fact, besides the number of troops, there is no actual information on what some are calling, a controversial operation.
“I’m not going to speak and elaborate on the steps we intend to take, but I’m sure I’m not going to settle for just talking,” Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told the press.
No terrorist groups have taken credit for the attack
The gun assault left many injured and four fatal victims. Police spokespeople reported the victims as Ilana Nave, 39; Mila Mishayev, 32; Ido Ben Aryeh, 42; and Michael Feige, 58. According to Yoni Yagodovsky, from Israel’s emergency rescue service, the response teams found victims scattered all around the shopping mall which leads to think the so called terrorists used long, high-caliber automatic guns.
Usually, after this kind of attacks, the local press gets a letter or video from a terrorist organization taking credit for the action. However, this time, the press did receive a message, but it was not to confess involvement. According to reports, the most prominent terrorist group in Gaza right now is Hamas. The organization sent a message to local news stations welcoming the assault, but they did not claim responsibility for it.
Some specialists say that more inquiring is necessary for this kind of situations. When an action like this takes place, and it’s immediately attributed to terrorists, quick action is usually taken. And not just an offensive against a complete area like West Bank, but there are many more implications. For example, in consequence of the attack, the Israelite government decided to revoke 83,000 Palestinians the right to travel out of Gaza and West Bank which means those people are not going to be able to attend Ramadan at Jerusalem. Yes, The Israel–Palestine conflict goes beyond religion, it is more of a matter of territory and power, experts say.
Moreover, similar measures taken by Israel in the past have created a lot of tension which terrorist have used as an excuse to carry on with attacks on civilians.
Israel suspends thousands of travel permits for Palestinians after the Tel Aviv attack https://t.co/xkaUSAWEIx pic.twitter.com/kwp1x9CNcJ
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 9, 2016
Discrimination is a powerful fuel for anger
A Hamas official, Mushir al-Masri, labeled the event as a “heroic operation,” and the group later issued an official statement threatening the “Zionists.”
Zionists are tied to the religious aspect of the conflict. Jerusalem is the most sacred place for 3 of the biggest and most important religions in the world: Christianism, Islam, and Judaism. Inside its territory there are many sacred and symbolic sites such as the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Temple Mount, and the Calvary. Believers from these traditions have gathered there over the years to honor their beliefs.
With the help of Western countries, Jewish civilian communities established in territories controlled by Israel. The settlements are currently located in West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.
According to Israeli professor Israel Shahak, Israel denies Palestinian Muslims and Christians their basic human rights based on a “new” extreme patriotism movement. Many people refer to the latter as “Zionism.” The movement was a minority at the beginning, but it has had a lot of promotion which makes Shahak believe they are well financed. Followers of this doctrine refer Israel as a stolen land, and that they have to redeem the land which refers to “returning” their land to Jewish “rightful” owners from non-Jewish hands.
Professor Shahak establishes human rights based on 3 fundamental aspects: residency rights, the right to work and the right to equality before the law. He adds that the state of Israel tends to discriminate in favor of Jewish individuals.
Source: BBC