By Nadda O.

 

ISRAELI OCCUPIED WEST BANK, 26 August. - (ANA) - Far-right Israeli lawmaker Tzvi Sukkot and his staff members smashed a Palestinian monument in the occupied West Bank under the protection of Israeli forces, while pushing for other statues and memorials to also be destroyed.

 

Footage showed Sukkot on Tuesday climbing atop the monument, which is located in the village of Madama, south of Nablus, and repeatedly hitting it forcefully. Later, some members of his staff joined in.

 

Sukkot confirmed to Israeli media that he carried out at the attack of the monument, adding that he did it in full coordination with the Israeli military.

 

He called for the monument to be fully destroyed, alleging it commemorates Palestinians who killed dozens of Israelis.

 

The memorial features the map of Palestine on one side, with the countyr's name written in Arabic across it as well as the Palestinian flag emerging from it. On the other side, the monument pays tribute to at least six Palestinians it refers to as “martyrs” — an honorific often given to those killed by Israel.

 

Earlier this month, Sukkot posted a video in which he calls for the Israeli army to demolish the monument and any other similar ones.

 

"The monument to the militants here and in other villages must be destroyed and broken,” he said.

 

The move has sparked fierce criticism, with Democrats lawmaker Gilad Kariv denouncing the army’s involvement in the destruction of the monument.

 

"Time and again, we have asked to coordinate with the IDF a visit to Qusra in recent weeks… time and again, our request was denied, without explanation, undermining parliamentary oversight,” Kariv said, referring to a Palestinian village that has been under siege in recent weeks.

 

He said the reason he was denied coordinated visits to the West Bank with other left-wing members of parliament was that the military said it lacked available troops.

 

"It turns out there are enough troops to escort the pyromaniac into the heart of a Palestinian village,” Kariv continued.

 

Following backlash, the Israeli army on Tuesday hit out at Sukkot, stating it had only authorised the tour to the West Bank, and not the destruction of monuments.

 

“Contrary to the coordination, the participants acted deceitfully and manipulatively, without authority and in complete violation of the approved framework, and began destroying one of the monuments in the village of Madama,” the army said in a statement.

 

The army added that troops assigned to the mission in the area were “put at unnecessary risk,” saying that Sukkot’s actions were “serious”.

 

Israeli media also quoted a security official as saying that the army had recommended the tour be delayed due to recent tensions in the area, suggesting instead that military troops go and provide him with material.

 

However, the source added that Sukkot insisted on going ahead and destroying the monument.

 

The Democrats' leader Yair Golan has accused Sukkot of trying to “ignite another fire and war”.

 

The incident has caused some commentators to suggest that the government is pushing for a flare-up in the West Bank as elections loom and Israel's ICC fugitive Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu grapples for support.

 

Member of Knesset Efrat Rayten called Sukkot a “messianic figure, a lawbreaker and an agent of chaos,” adding that “these sights are a deliberate policy of institutional chaos designed to set the field ablaze and ignite a full-scale war here”.

 

Others noted that Sukkot could not be viewed as a fringe lawmaker, noting he chairs the Education Committee and is a member of extremist finance minister Bezalel Smotrich’s party. -(ANA) -