Amna: The renewed wave of
violence and vengeance between
Israelis and Palestinians
continued today as a Palestinian
gunman killed a motorist near
the city of Jericho, on the
occupied west bank.
The U.S. Ambassador to Israel
said the victim was an American,
though the man has yet to be
identified.
The killing comes amid
intensified conflict in nablus,
and the town of hawara, also on
the west bank.
It is a dark new chapter in an
old conflict, punctuated by the
worst violence in decades.
Overnight, Israeli settlers
rampaged through the Palestinian
town of hawara, torching dozens
of homes and cars.
Daylight revealed the extent of
the damage, blackened buildings
and burnt out vehicles.
>> At night settlers attacked
us, I saw them.
When they burned the car my
mother went down with a bucket
of water to put out the fire.
>> They burned the container,
burned the warehouses, burned
the storehouse for electrical
appliances and destroyed the
house.
Amna: These attacks were
retaliation after a Palestinian
gunman killed two Israeli
brothers in a nearby jewish
settlement.
Thousands of mourners attended
their funerals today in
Jerusalem.
Their mother, grief stricken.
>> Two loved ones, my sons, my
loved sons, who walk in the path
of god, for them I cry.
We have suffered a rupture and
there is no one to console us.
Just days earlier, an Israeli
army raid targeting militants in
nablus killed 11 Palestinians.
This latest spasm of violence is
showing no signs of abating.
Israel is now deploying hundreds
more troops to the west bank.
>> We've seen over the past
several years a gradual increase
in the number and intensity of
settler terrorism against
Palestinians.
Amna: Khaled elgindy is a senior
fellow with the Middle East
institute.
He says settler violence in the
west bank isn't new but has
become more radical.
>> This is happening within the
context of Israeli politics that
have steadily moved more and
more to the right.
When you have this convergence
of the state power, combined
with the very strong ideological
extremism of settlers on the
ground, it is a recipe for
escalating violence.
Amna: Israel's ultranationalist
public security minister itamar
ben-gvir called today for an end
to vigilante is him.
-- Vigilantism.
A settler himself, he spoke
during the eviction of settlers
from an illegal outpost on the
occupied west bank.
>> I understand the hard
feelings, but this is in the
way.
You can't take the law into your
hands.
Israel's government, the state
of Israel, idf, the security
forces, they are the ones who
need to crush our enemies.
Amna: Israeli prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu echoed those
same sentiments yesterday.
>> I ask that even when the
blood is boiling and the spirit
is hot, not to take the law into
your hands.
I would like to let the idf and
the security forces do their
job.
Amna: But the recent wave of
clashes is exposing divisions in
Israel's new right-wing
government and fanning tensions.
Tzvika Fogel, a lawmaker from
the ruling coalition, said
rampages like the one this past
weekend could deter further
Palestinian attacks.
>> When there are those who say
this enhances deterrence, that
is actually the equivalent of
incitement.
Amna: Dennis Ross was a middle
East peace negotiator in both
Republican and democratic
administrations.
He is now a distinguished fellow
at the Washington institute.
>> I think there are rifts
within the Israeli government.
The prime minister is calling
very clearly that we are a state
of laws.
There has to be law and order.
But it's interesting that it
took ben-gvir so long to say
anything about that.
And that's why I say I see the
difficulty -- I see the
challenge that prime minister
Netanyahu faces.
He's got a government that is a
very difficult government,
probably more difficult than
anyone who's ever had to manage
before.
Amna: Ross also lays blame for
the uptick in violence on
Palestinian leaders.
>> Part of the problem with the
Palestinian authority is it has
almost no credibility with the
Palestinian public.
It's a result of dysfunction.
It's a result of great
corruption.
It's basically a loss of faith.
If there was to be a serious
effort at political and economic
reform, which also produce law
and order, I think you would see
the ability to get greater
control over the current
situation as well.
Amna: The weekend's violence
broke out shortly after top
Israeli and Palestinian envoys
met in Jordan to discuss how to
curb violence ahead of the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
They issued a joint communique
that "Reaffirmed the necessity
of committing to de-escalation
on the ground and to prevent
further violence."
Israel also agreed to halt
discussions of new settlement
units in the west bank for four
months.
>> The fact that the
Palestinians were able to get an
Israeli leaders to commit to
anything along those lines is an
achievement in and of itself.
But there is almost no hope of
it being implemented on the
ground.
And that's frankly, a
responsibility of the
international community to
compel Israel in some form to to
-- to abide by these
commitments.
Amna: Israeli forces have killed
at least 62 Palestinians so far
this year.
During that same time,
Palestinian attacks have killed
14 Israelis.
The U.S. Is pushing for an end
to the bloodshed.
State department spokesman Ned
price.
>> These events underscore the
fragility of the situation in
the west bank and the urgent
need for increased cooperation
to prevent further violence.
Amna: But divisions within the
Israeli government and
increasing Palestinian despair
cast doubt on whether they will
answer that call.