From Drone Strikes to Settler Attacks, Israel Intensifies Effort to "Completely Take Over Palestine"

this is democracy Now democracynow.org The War and Peace report I'm Amy Goodman as we turn now to the occupied West Bank where tensions soar this week after Israel launched a massive military raid Monday in the Janine refugee camp killing seven Palestinians including a 14 year old girl and a 14 year old boy during the raid which was met by Fierce Palestinian resistance Israel deployed U.S made

Apache helicopter gunships for the first time inside the West Bank in nearly 20 years on Tuesday two Palestinian gunmen shot dead four Israelis near an illegal settlement in the West Bank settlers responded by attacking Palestinian Villages setting fire to homes and vehicles one school was set on fire settlers were caught on video to tearing out pages from multiple copies of the Quran after they raided a

mosque in the West Bank Village of urith meanwhile on Wednesday Israel carried out its first targeted assassination aerial strike in nearly 20 years the Drone strike killed three Palestinians including a 15 year old boy this all comes as the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin netanyahu's far-right government has agreed to accelerate the process for approving new settlements in the West Bank despite criticism from the United Nations European

union and the United States we're joined now by the Palestinian journalist Mariam barguti she's a senior Palestine correspondent Fernanda why she usually is based in Ramallah but is joining us from New York City today it's great to have you with us Mariam if you can talk about the escalating violence right now in the West Bank thank you it's good uh to be here again Amy thank

such as yaffa Tel Aviva chanting death to Arabs and and that's what they have been doing now is killing Arabs we've had almost 700 Palestinians killed since those chants began in 2021 and right now what we are seeing is adjoining of forces once again between Israeli settlers in uniforms such as the Army and and Border Police and Israeli settlers in in civilian clothing but also armed

attacking Palestinians under the the false manipulated discourse that this is a response to to a Palestinian militant operation this is not a response to that this is the status quo this is the daily Norm we saw it happen in 2015 when an entire Palestinian family Annapolis near the location where the most recent arson attack happened in Mass an entire family was burned in Duma including an

infant just a few months old and his mother and father leaving the the last remaining child in the family who was three at the time orphaned so what we're seeing is an intensification to completely take over Palestine and it's not just Palestine in in the sense of the West Bank this is Gaza this is Heartland Palestine in Jerusalem and right now you're seeing attacks exactly the

same way Israeli forces have attacked Palestinians in in the West Bank happening in the occupied Syrian Golden Heights so so Israel is moving full force to do exactly what blizzell smotrich the current Finance Minister of Israel called for in terms of hewara and nablis and that is wipe it out what they are doing right now is wiping it out um the U.S state Department's office of

Palestinian Affairs said it was appalled by the attacks on Palestinians by the Israeli settlers adding we call the Israeli authorities to immediately Stop the Violence protect U.S and Palestinian civilians and prosecute those responsible there are many also Palestinian Americans who are living there as well right can you talk about the state Department's response did that surprise you it did not surprise me the U.S state department

has rarely interfered or intervened on behalf of Palestinian American citizens in order to push forward for justice more than a year later and the assassination of the palestinian-american journalist shooting of Auckland last year who was also killed by an Israeli sniper shot in Janine still did not receive accountability and come to dozens of others that were killed who are American citizens and zero accountability anyone that

was arrested in the Israeli military known for torturing and mistreating their political detainees the U.S did not interfere I think that the words the the language that they try to push forward as though they are truthfully and sincerely representing American citizenry as as they claim is false what we see is is the U.S arming Israel continuously and consistently what we see is the U.S vetoing any

potentials or opportunity for actually holding Israel accountable I have never heard of asking the butcher to be told to give themselves um judgment and accountability I have never heard of that Dynamic except in this bring the raid in Janine um Israel deployed u.s-made Apache helicopter gunships for the first time inside the West Bank in nearly 20 years and also carried out its first targeted assassination aerial

strike in the West Bank for the first time in 20 years they have done that in Gaza more recently can you talk about the significance of this and what difference it means when groups in the United States particularly Jewish groups put pressure on the is on the U.S government around the issue of weapons that the U that Israel uses coming from the United States thank you

for asking that um it's it's it's really important to recognize that just recently the current minister of National Security is actually denied service in the Israeli military because he was considered a terrorist um and a threat to National Security is now the minister of national security has called for a renewed military operation called Defensive shield now defensive Shield was a military operation the early 2000s between

2002 2003 that took place mostly between Janine nablis Bethlehem and Ramallah in the West Bank and and they blew up homes wall to wall that is how they moved through cities and it was considered to be one of the most destructive and tragic military operations to have hit Palestinians in the West Bank and and Israel is being um it was investigated and it has shown the

evidence that Israel has committed crimes against humanity and war crimes during these operations a few months ago it might have been very called for operation defensive Shield 2.0 basically um so so that's the significance of using that drone for the first time in 20 years because the last time it was used was 2006 where they targeted the young Fighters at the time and now those born

in 2000 2002 345 at the peak of operation defensive Shield have grown up and they have seen no change and they tried to confront back and now that benign Vita is asking to kill those the children that grew up under nothing but War who are mostly refugees on world Refugee day almost 80 percent of those killed in the last two years were refugees these are the

refugee camps Israeli settlers Rampage through Palestinian towns and the West Bank Wednesday killing at least one person critically injuring another torching buildings and cars this is a resident of the town of turmasaya dozens of settlers came here around 200 250 settlers they tried to enter the courtyard they set the cars on fire they started shooting towards the house using live bullets and stones and they damaged

the balconies there were almost 14 family members at home including women and children but thank God there were no injuries they tried to open the doors but they were closed if you can talk more about what the Israeli government how the Israeli government responds to Israeli settlers rampaging so the Israeli government arms and provides protection to Israeli settlers rampaging they send in military forces with the

settlers in civilian clothing who are armed as well in order to facilitate ease of movement across Palestinian towns and Villages what happened in turmos Aya was proceeded in a similar occurrence just a few months ago and it was preceded by a mass arson attack in Hawaii near Nablus also a few months ago so this is not an anomaly it's not the exception it's the norm and

and this is why it is important for for especially Jewish voices in the U.S to continue tackling this issue where their their name and their beliefs is being used to perpetuate crimes against humanity and to also benefit the weapons trade industry it's not just the U.S providing weapons to Israel it is the U.S and Israel tag teaming to test those weapons Palestinians they have turned the

Palestinian demographic into Lab Rats I want to end with Muhammad al-tanimi the two-year-old Palestinian child who was recently shot dead by Israeli soldiers you have written about this and the personal effect it has on you covering this kind of brutality tell us about him um muhammadi was a two-year-old boy who was killed as Israeli soldiers chased other Palestinian youth firing bullets at the car near the

village of nabisola Muhammad was next to his father when the shooting happened and as we know as I have seen from testimonies and documentation Israel does not discriminate indeed between child or adult civilian or non-civilian combatant or non-combatant the father was injured Muhammad who is two was killed and you need to understand that his mother is is this young woman who I've known when she was

a child who has helped protect adults from Israeli arrests who grew up in nabisal watching One death after the other this is a small village and could not protect her two-year-old son I don't know what that does to a mother I don't know what that does to a young mother and I don't know what that does to a mother living under consistent trauma that's what happened

with him who is too and that's what happens to dozens of Palestinian families and it's not it's not to discourage us but it is to empower us and and make us say no yeah we refuse this dynamic in reality well not at our tax dollars Marion bar Gucci I want to thank you for being with us uh senior Palestine correspondent Fernando Weiss based in Ramallah speaking

to us though today from New York City