By Anna Fifield on Newsroom…
Israel’s far-right government is encouraging illegal settlement outposts on the West Bank, ahead of elections next month, which are expected to be extremely challenging for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ultra-nationalist allies.
Witnesses describe Israeli soldiers, who are meant to oversee security in the occupied West Bank, as standing by – even drinking coffee and praying with the settlers – during attempts to force Palestinian families from their homes.
“They don’t do anything about the settlers,” says Gerry Shih, the Jerusalem bureau chief for the Washington Post.
He recently visited the village of Qusra, where Israeli settlers besieged three Palestinian families in their houses while Israeli soldiers looked on.
“There’s all kinds of speculation inside Israel … people are asking, okay, so is the Israeli military complicit in this?”
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