Increase in Casualties Amid Continuing Wave of Violence in Israel

Amid a continuing wave of violence in Israel, the latest violent incidents in this country and the occupied territories of the West Bank have resulted in several deaths and injuries on both sides. Israeli media reported on Saturday, February 19, that following several days of intense violence, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy was arrested with a knife near one of the Jewish holy sites in Hebron. On Friday, February 18, two Palestinians were killed in Jerusalem and the West Bank. A 21-year-old man was killed in the village of 'Beit Fajr' during a clash with Israeli soldiers, and another Palestinian was injured and arrested; the Israeli army claims that the two were armed and had fired at Israeli soldiers. Additionally, a 20-year-old Palestinian was killed at the 'Jaffa Gate' in Jerusalem after attacking two Israeli soldiers with a knife. On Thursday, February 17, an Israeli soldier was killed and several others were injured, while two Palestinian teenagers who were the assailants in a knife attack on shoppers at a supermarket in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank were injured and arrested due to gunfire. In street attacks over the past five months, Israeli soldiers and civilians have killed over 160 assailants on the spot. The number of Palestinian deaths in these five months has reached 185. According to Israeli media, the country's security organization reported this week that half of the assailants are young people and teenagers under 20 years old from middle-class and even affluent Palestinian families, and their intention to become 'martyrs' should not be linked to their families' poverty. Palestinians confirm that over 50 of their dead have been teenagers. Meanwhile, eleven percent of Palestinians involved in these knife attacks have been young Palestinian girls, with several 13-year-olds among them. Alongside the Palestinians, several Arab boys and girls from families with Israeli citizenship have joined the attackers. In the past five months, 32 Israelis have been killed. The Israeli news website Ynet reported that the death of 21-year-old soldier 'Tobias Weissman' in Thursday night's attack is notable because, for the first time in this conflict, a 14-year-old Palestinian teenager killed an Israeli soldier. Gadi Eisenkot, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, stated last Tuesday regarding the armed soldiers' response to killing Palestinian teenagers that we should not wake up every morning to kill and go to sleep every night with the intention of killing. The commander added that the army and those who are armed must adhere to regulations and only act based on orders and regulations. Eisenkot also stated that a soldier who is armed is secure against a 13-year-old Palestinian girl who, for any reason, has scissors in her hand and has come out to attack, and it is not right to empty a magazine into her head. The statements of the Israeli army commander have faced severe criticism from right-wing politicians in the country. These politicians have called on Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon to reprimand the army commander for these remarks, but Mr. Ya'alon stated on Wednesday that he supports the army commander. In this context, a shooting at a bar in Tel Aviv left at least two dead. Condemnation of the killers of the Palestinian teenager in Jerusalem. Five Palestinians were killed while attempting to attack Israelis.