CAIRO (Dispatches) – Dozens of leaders and senior officials from Arab and Islamic countries warned on Sunday the Zionist regime’s actions in Al-Quds and the occupied West Bank could worsen regional turmoil, as violence by the occupying regime surges against Palestinians.
The meeting in Cairo was hosted by the Arab League and attended by President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas along with many foreign ministers and senior officials.
The high-level gathering came amid one of the deadliest periods of fighting in years in Al-Quds and the neighboring Israeli-occupied territory. Forty-five Palestinians have been killed so far this year, according to a count by The Associated Press.
In a latest incident, a Zionist settler fatally shot a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said.
A number of Zionist settlers carrying pistols and one with a rifle approached the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan. At least one of the settlers fired a shot, killing a 27-year-old Palestinian identified as Mothqal Rayyan, witnesses told Reuters.
According to a witness, the Zionist regime’s military arrived but only protected the settlers.
The regime’s military said its troops had been dispatched to the scene after Zionists attacked Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Zionist troops sealed up the family home of a Palestinian man who allegedly careened his car into an Al-Quds bus stop, killing three Zionists and injuring several others, the occupying regime’s police said Sunday.
Police released a video showing police and soldiers welding the doors and windows of the apartment in east Al-Quds shut. The action came after Zionist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the dwelling sealed immediately after the Friday attack. It was the first step ahead of the possible demolition of the apartment.
Zionist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has ordered the regime’s police force to prepare for a major offensive in Al-Quds, after the Palestinian man allegedly carried out a car-ramming in the occupied territories that killed at least two settlers.
Ben-Gvir announced in a statement on Friday that after assessing the situation at the police headquarters in Al-Quds, he instructed the police forces to be prepared for “Defensive Shield 2” operation in the holy city.
He referred to a major Israeli offensive called ‘Defensive Shield’ order by former prime minister Ariel Sharon that led to dozens of deaths among Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
According to the statement, the new offensive aims to fight “terrorism.”
Ben-Gvir has a long history of inciting violence against Palestinians. He has maintained his hard-line views after becoming a minister in Netanyahu’s far-right cabinet.
Late last month, he threatened Palestinians involved in retaliatory operations against Israeli military forces and settlers with “electric chairs.”
He also issued an order last week for a five-fold increase in the number of new gun permits for settlers in occupied territories.