Conflicts: Intensified security situation in Israel: protests continue

Despite the tightened security situation in Israel, protests against the policies of Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing religious government continue unabated. This was announced by the organizers of the protest actions that have been going on for three months. However, a march that was planned after the weekly mass rally in Tel Aviv in the evening was canceled at the request of the police.

According to rescue workers, an Italian tourist was killed and seven other tourists between the ages of 17 and 74 injured in an attack near the Tel Aviv beach promenade on Friday evening. Two Israeli sisters were killed and their mother critically injured in an attack in the West Bank on Friday morning. The alleged Palestinian perpetrators had shot from a car at the women, who were also traveling in a vehicle, and were then able to escape.

The injured in the incident in Tel Aviv all came from Italy and Great Britain, according to the hospital. Police said the gunman drove his car at high speed on the beach bike path and hit several people. The car overturned. According to police, the driver was shot dead by a police officer as he was about to pull out a gun. However, Israeli media reported that it was a dummy weapon. According to police information, the assassin was an Arab from Kfar Kasem in northern Israel.

reactions from abroad

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the “cowardly attack” and pledged her solidarity with the State of Israel, as her official seat in Rome announced on Saturday night. Meloni is also in contact with the Israeli authorities to follow the latest developments. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani expressed his “firm condemnation of terrorism” in a tweet. His Israeli colleague Eli Cohen expressed his condolences during a phone call to Tajani on Saturday. “The Italian government stands with Israel and supports Israel’s efforts to calm down during these difficult days as we face a wave of terrorism,” Cohen said after the call. Just last month, one man was killed and two others injured in an attack by a Palestinian in downtown Tel Aviv.

In addition, there was heavy rocket fire from Lebanon on Israel on Thursday. Israel blamed the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas for the attacks and then launched aerial attacks on militant Palestinian bases in the neighboring country to the north and in the Gaza Strip. Numerous rockets were also fired at Israel from the Palestinian territory on the Mediterranean Sea.

The Federal Foreign Office in Berlin wrote on Twitter: “We are concerned about the situation in the Middle East and are appalled by the terrorist attacks on Passover, which killed three people. Nothing can justify terror and violence.”

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also condemned the attacks in Tel Aviv and the West Bank, as well as rocket attacks from Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. “The EU expresses its total condemnation of these acts of violence,” he said of the attacks. “This has to stop.” He also condemned the actions of the Israeli police on the Temple Mount (Al-Haram al-Sharif) in Jerusalem. Israel has the right to defend itself, but any response must be proportionate. Borrell called on everyone involved to exercise maximum restraint “to prevent further escalation and to ensure calm during the holidays”.

Many believers in Jerusalem’s old city

Because Ramadan, the Jewish Passover festival and Easter are celebrated at the same time these days, significantly more believers than usual are drawn to the Old City of Jerusalem. The Temple Mount is under Muslim administration while Israel is responsible for security. The Temple Mount with the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam. However, it is also sacred to Jews because two Jewish temples used to stand there.

The internal situation in Israel has also been extremely tense for more than three months: there are constant protests against a planned judicial reform by the right-wing religious government, which experts believe threatens the very foundations of democracy. “We will continue the fight against the dictatorship as if there were no war on terror,” said the organizers. At the same time, the security forces will be supported “as if there were no war against the dictatorship.” The youngest victims should also be remembered at the rally in Tel Aviv.