Far-right Israelis, led by ministers, march to evacuated West Bank outpost in mass rally
- Event took place in northern West Bank, scene of much recent violence; Palestinians seek West Bank, Gaza, east Jerusalem for independent state
- Rally at Eviatar – unauthorised settlement evacuated by previous Israeli government in 2021 – led by hard-line ultranationalist Jewish settlers
Thousands of Israelis led by at least seven Cabinet ministers marched on Monday to an evacuated West Bank settlement, in a defiant signal that Israel’s most right-wing government in history is determined to accelerate settlement building on occupied lands despite international opposition.
The mass rally also threatened to further raise tensions that have been heightened by days of unrest across the region over a contested Jerusalem holy site.
In new violence, Israel troops killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy during an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank, while a 48-year-old British-Israeli woman died of wounds sustained in an attack that killed two of her daughters last week.
“We announce with sadness the passing of Lucy (Leah) Dee, a victim of the fatal attack in the (Jordan) Valley last Friday,” the Jerusalem hospital treating her said in a statement.
Monday’s march took place in the northern West Bank, the scene of repeated violence in recent months.
Thousands of Israeli police and army forces were reportedly deployed to secure the march, which added to the already combustible atmosphere that has accompanied the overlap of major Jewish and Muslim holy days.