WEST BANK (Dispatches) – The Zionist regime’s Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar has warned of a flare-up of tensions between Palestinians and occupation forces in the West Bank in the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which will start next month.
Israeli media reports said Bar made the warning during a several-day trip to the United States where he met FBI Director Christopher Wray.
The Ynet news site attributed the possibility of a flare-up to the overlap of the Muslim holy month and the Jewish holiday of Passover this year.
Zionist settlers storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied Old City of Al-Quds to mark the holiday in a provocative move.
Tensions heightened across the Palestinian territories on February 13, when Zionist troops and illegal settlers renewed their attacks against Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah. The neighborhood has been the scene of frequent crackdowns by regime forces on the Palestinians protesting against the threatened expulsion of dozens of families from their homes in favor of settler groups.
The initial tensions that erupted in Sheikh Jarrah last year in part sparked a May 2021 war between the regime and resistance groups in the Gaza Strip.
In the latest bombardment campaign, at least 260 Palestinians, including over 60 children, were killed in a time span of 11 days that began on May 10. The Gaza-based resistance movements retaliated.
In a new incident, a Zionist settler armed with live ammunition has attacked Palestinian school girls in the occupied West Bank.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing medical sources, reported the shooting spree took place on Sunday morning in Tuqu, a Palestinian town southeast of Bethlehem.
Bassam Jabr, an official of the Bethlehem Education Directorate, confirmed that a Zionist settler who was armed with a rifle got off a bus loaded with settlers and opened gunfire towards the school children. The official said the shooting attack sparked a state of panic and fear among the school children.
In the aftermath of the attack, hundreds of students were evacuated to a safe shelter before being sent home, the report said.
Every year, Palestinian children fall victim to acts of violence by Zionist troops and settlers across the occupied territories.
Meanwhile, amid the occupying regime’s relentless repression against press crews in the occupied territories, an independent organization says Zionist troops carried out over 260 attacks against Palestinian journalists through last year.
The Journalists’ Support Committee (JSC) said in a statement released on Monday that Zionist troops targeted the journalists in the occupied West Bank and residential neighborhoods across Al-Quds as well as the besieged Gaza Strip.
The committee noted that a large number of the Palestinian journalists sustained injuries and in some cases permanent disabilities during the mentioned period, stressing that assaults have dramatically affected their professional career.