Palestinian PM accuses Israel of imposing collective punishment in West Bank

Ramallah: Mohammed Ishtaye, the prime minister of Palestine, has charged that Israel is punishing the Palestinian people in the West Bank collectively.

He made the comments on Monday in response to a slew of assaults by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their properties in several West Bank locations.

"The town of Huwara and the villages south of Nablus in the northern West Bank and several other areas have once again been subjected, during the past two days, to terrorist acts by the settler gangs," Ishtaye said in a statement.

He added that "the collective punishments and all the repeated aggression against the Palestinian people in the West Bank will increase their strength and determination for freedom and independence".

Ishtaye condemned the demand of some settlers and Jewish extremists for the erasure of the Huwara, which came after a shooting attack in the town on Saturday afternoon that killed two Israelis.

On Monday, fierce clashes erupted in Huwara and several villages south of Nablus between dozens of Palestinians and Israeli soldiers. Dozens suffocated after inhaling teargas fired by the soldiers, according to Palestinian medics.

The clashes came when Israeli soldiers stormed several houses and shops and tightened their military measures near Nablus, claiming they were searching for the perpetrator of the shooting attack.

Since January, 33 people, most of them Israelis, have been killed in attacks carried out by Palestinians, and more than 200 Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers, according to official figures.

With inputs from IANS