Continued Violence and Mutual Clashes Between Israel and Palestinians

In the continuation of violent events between Israel and Palestinians in East Jerusalem, Jerusalem, and the West Bank, while Israel has besieged the city of Ramallah and detained dozens of Palestinians, in the latest attack on Israelis, another soldier of this country has been severely injured, and Israelis have also injured an Arab driver. According to the Israeli army, a Palestinian on the morning of Friday, December 23, attacked a soldier at a watchtower in one of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank by hitting him on the head with a stone and then stabbing him, and fled the scene. The injured soldier underwent surgery for his head injury at a hospital in Jerusalem. Following this incident, Israeli security forces were dispatched to search for the assailant in the surrounding areas. A Palestinian also injured several Israeli soldiers in the Al-Bireh area with a car on Thursday evening, December 22, and one of them was wounded; this driver was killed by Israeli soldiers. Meanwhile, an Arab driver, a citizen of Israel, was severely injured on Thursday evening, apparently 'because he was Arab,' in an attack by Jewish settlers and was transferred to the hospital. A four-year-old Palestinian child who was injured in the recent Israeli attacks on a Palestinian village has also lost his life. Meanwhile, the Israeli army has continued the siege of Ramallah, the most important city in the West Bank, in search of those responsible for Thursday's attack on soldiers and civilians at a bus station, detaining dozens of Palestinians. According to Al Jazeera, supporters of Hamas, including two members of the Palestinian parliament, are among the more than 40 Palestinians detained in Ramallah. The Israeli army has confirmed that most of the detainees are Hamas supporters; Hamas claims that Israel has arrested more than 70 supporters of this movement in the West Bank in one week. In the Thursday attack near a settlement, two soldiers were killed, and one soldier and one civilian girl were injured; the condition of the injured soldier remains 'critical' after surgery. Israeli media reported that the army considers the armed attack at the mentioned bus station to be the 'worst' incident in recent times due to the actions of the Palestinian assailant. According to the Israeli army's investigation, a Palestinian man exited a vehicle upon reaching the bus station, opened fire on armed soldiers and civilians standing at the station, seized the machine gun of one of the killed soldiers, got into a running vehicle waiting for its driver, and fled the scene. The mentioned vehicle was found abandoned near the city of Ramallah after a few hours, prompting the Israeli army to issue a siege order for Ramallah. The Israeli army and the country's internal security forces had killed several individuals responsible for recent attacks on Israelis in various locations in the West Bank on Wednesday; Palestinian organizations have stated that Thursday's attack was a reaction to the killing of those involved in previous attacks. Ashraf Na'alweh killed two Israelis two months ago, and Saleh Omar Barghouti attacked an Israeli family on a road in the West Bank last Sunday, resulting in the death of a fetus of a pregnant mother. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Israel, stated on Thursday that killing those responsible for previous attacks was 'an achievement' and that Thursday's incident was 'a loss,' while simultaneously ordering the demolition of the homes of Palestinians involved in these attacks, even if they have not yet been found, within 48 hours. The Israeli government has simultaneously considered a series of decisions to 'punish' the West Bank, and Netanyahu also stated that Israel will continue to build settlements regardless of the opposition from the International Criminal Court, legalizing thousands of homes in these settlements that until now were not considered legal even by Israel itself. Leaders of the West Bank settlements have also asked Netanyahu to re-establish border posts and strict regulations against Palestinians in the West Bank, which had been dismantled for some time. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, stated on Thursday that 'the indiscriminate attacks of the Israeli army and the lack of a peace horizon have worsened the situation in the West Bank.' Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, praised the perpetrators of the recent attacks on Israelis on Thursday, saying, 'The West Bank has begun a new chapter in the struggle against the enemy.' Hamas called for demonstrations in Gaza and the West Bank on Friday, December 23, marking the thirty-first anniversary of the establishment of this movement. The intensification of the situation in the West Bank comes as the protests of Palestinians at the borders of Gaza and Israel over the past ten months have resulted in approximately 270 deaths and more than 20,000 injuries.