NEW YORK (Dispatches) – UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland has warned that violence in the occupied West Bank could lead to disruption of a ceasefire in Gaza.
Wennesland voiced concern about recent developments in the occupied West Bank, including East Al-Quds, and the deteriorating security situation during his briefing at the UN Security Council.
He said clashes, attacks, military operations and high levels of settler-related violence perpetrated by the Zionist regime have continued as Palestinian factions call for retaliation against the occupying regime.
“Continued unilateral steps -- including Israeli settlement advancement, evictions, and demolitions – and the severe fiscal and economic crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) further exacerbate the situation and undermine the PA’s institutional stability,” said Wennesland.
“If left unchecked, I am concerned that not only may the situation in the West Bank further deteriorate, but these dynamics could also impact the security situation in Gaza and undermine the cessation of hostilities that has held since May 2021,” he added.
The UN coordinator urged all parties to take immediate steps to lower tensions and restore calm.
In a recent development, Zionist troops killed a Palestinian youth in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday after his car was fired at over what they claimed to be a car-ramming attack on their checkpoint.
Palestine’s official WAFA news agency said the Palestinian, identified as Abd al-Aziz Hekmat Mousa, was killed on Tuesday evening when his car was caught on fire near the Israeli military checkpoint of Dotan in the town of Ya’bad, southwest of the city of Jenin.
Citing local sources, WAFA said Zionist troops opened fire at the car following an alleged car-ramming attack by the 22-year-old.
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas and other resistance groups praised the alleged attack as a response to the crimes of the occupation forces.
“This is a revolution that will not stop or retreat, no matter what the challenges and sacrifices may be, until the end of the occupation and the establishment of our Palestinian state with Al-Quds as its capital,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a tweet.
The Islamic Jihad movement also said that such operations are “evidence of the resistance’s vitality… and a response to the crimes of the Zionist occupation and the attacks of settlers.”
The latest killing comes as the Israeli regime has allowed forces to shoot Palestinian protesters who throw rocks and stones in the occupied West Bank even if they do not pose an imminent threat.