A new type of Palestinian militia is emerging

It will be harder for both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to deal with

Masked youths wearing bandanas reading in Arabic "the Lion's Den", refering to the Palestinian armed group, attend a rally in support of the group in Gaza City on November 1, 2022. - The nascent militant group is a loose coalition of fighters that emerged in the occupied West Bank in recent months, in parallel with a sharp rise in Israeli raids on the northern part of the territory. The group has claimed a series of recent attacks including the killing of an Israeli soldier in the nearby settlement of Shavei Shomron on October 11. (Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images) — New in townImage: Getty Images

Mar 2nd 2023|HAWARA AND JERUSALEM

Even by the violent standards of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the night of February 26th was unprecedented. Hundreds of Israeli settlers rampaged through Hawara, a Palestinian town of 7,000 south of Nablus in the West Bank. They were enraged by the shooting dead of two brothers in Hawara earlier that day. For hours they set fire to houses and cars. One Palestinian was killed by gunfire (whose is unclear). For the most part the Israeli army stood by and watched. “They did fire tear-gas at Palestinians who were trying to come and help,” said one Palestinian, surveying the blackened front of his home.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “A tinderbox”