The occupation arrests 17 Palestinians.. and a Polish MP describes Israel as "Nazi"
On Wednesday, Israeli army forces arrested 17 Palestinians, including a woman, during a series of raids and raids carried out in various areas of the occupied West Bank.
Local sources said that Israeli forces raided the town of Ya'bad, southwest of Jenin, in the northern West Bank, and arrested eight Palestinians after raiding and searching their homes. It added that the forces also stormed the city of Nablus and arrested eight others after similar raids. In Qalqilya, forces arrested a woman after breaking into her house, searching it and tampering with its contents. The forces also carried out raids in the town of Tammun, south of Tubas, the village of Marah Rabah, south of Bethlehem, and the Aqbat Jabr camp, west of Jericho, without announcing additional arrests.
These incursions come within the framework of continuous operations carried out by the Israeli army in the West Bank, interspersed with arrests and raids of homes. Since the beginning of the aggression on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, Israel, through the army and settlers, has escalated its attacks in the West Bank, resulting in the death of more than 1,148 Palestinians and the injury of about 11,750, in addition to the arrest of nearly 22,000.
Palestinian and International Positions
In a related context, Palestinian Foreign Minister Farsin Agbekan Shaheen said that there has been a noticeable shift in the attitudes of a number of European countries towards the Israeli occupation and settlements, but stressed that this shift needs to be translated into practice on the ground.
In an interview with Anadolu Agency, she explained that countries such as Spain, Germany and the Netherlands are adopting clearer positions against the occupation, but sufficing with condemnation encourages Israel to commit more violations.
Shaheen stressed that the Palestinian issue has become clear to the world, but the lack of political will on the part of the international community prevents practical steps from being taken, calling for the imposition of sanctions and the activation of international accountability tools, noting that in November 2024 , the International Criminal Court had issued two arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, on charges of committing war crimes, but they have not yet been implemented.
The Minister explained that Palestinian diplomacy is moving intensively at the United Nations and the Human Rights Council, and raises the files of settlements, settler attacks, freedom of worship and the prisoners' law, stressing that the current stage requires the implementation of resolutions and not just issuing them.
Polish lawmaker raises Nazi flag for Israel
Polish lawmaker Konrad Berkowitz sparked controversy on Tuesday after he raised an Israeli flag bearing the Nazi swastika in the Polish parliament, accusing Tel Aviv of committing "brutal genocide in front of the eyes of the world."
Berkowitz's move came during a speech to coincide with Israel's commemoration of the anniversary of the Holocaust on April 14, an occasion that evokes the campaigns of persecution and liquidation carried out by the Nazi German government and its allies against Jews and other minorities during World War II (1939-1945).
The MP said that the number of children killed in the Gaza Strip is tens of times more than the victims of the war in Ukraine, pointing out that the Israeli war on Gaza has left more than 72,000 dead and more than 172,000 wounded, most of them women and children, in addition to extensive destruction that affected about 90 percent of infrastructure.
Berkowitz described Israel as the "Third Reich," referring to the Nazi era, stressing that it uses banned white phosphorus bombs that lead to the suffocation of victims and the burning of their internal tissues. He added that these bombs stick to the victim's body and burn the tissues until they reach the bone, forcing the injured to have their limbs or parts of their bodies amputated.
The MP also linked the Israeli attacks in the Middle East to the rise in fuel prices in Poland, considering that the repercussions of the war go beyond the borders of Palestine to affect the European economy.
Berkovich's remarks come at a time of increasing international criticism against Israel over the ongoing aggression in Gaza since October 2023, which has been described as one of the most violent military campaigns in the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.