Deadly clashes near West Bank village kill 4 Palestinians, 2 Israelis as IDF begins major operation.
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Four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed near a Palestinian village on Friday in clashes that added to the growing death toll.in recent weeks as the violence of Israeli settlers has intensified against the Palestinian people in the occupied West Bank.
The clashes near the village of Tal, southwest of Nablus, came as attacks by settlers in Palestinian territories increased sharply since the beginning of the year, according to United Nations statistics.
The Israeli military said it received reports that Israeli civilians who were hiking were attacked near the village, in Area A in the West Bank. The area is under Palestinian Authority civil and security control, and Israelis are officially prohibited from entering.
The military said a Palestinian man took a weapon from Israeli security guards in the nearby Havat Gilad area and opened fire, wounding several Israelis before killing them. It identified Benayahu Mellet, 32, as one of the Israelis killed. Three other Palestinians were also killed.
The exact circumstances of Friday’s clashes remain unclear, but Israeli media reports and interviews with local Palestinian officials suggested that a group of settlers entered Tal and confronted residents who feared an attack.
Shooting videos are rolling
In a video of Friday’s shooting, confirmed by the Israeli military and broadcast online by a military correspondent for Israel Army Radio, two armed men in civilian clothes, along with one Israeli soldier, are shown pointing their weapons at a group of Palestinians gathered in a field.
At one point, two armed men ran up to several Palestinian civilians with guns drawn. In the photo, residents tried to push them back and were seen pulling out guns before one of the residents opened fire.
A separate video, published by Israeli media and confirmed by the military, showed Israeli soldiers shooting at a group of Palestinians in the same field who were already on the ground.
More than a dozen gunshots can be heard in the footage. The army said the Palestinian man suspected of opening fire was one of those killed in the attack. It did not answer questions about why the soldiers killed the other men – all of whom were related – or how long the killings took place after the initial conflict.
Military orders operation ‘counterterrorism’
On Friday, Israeli soldiers set up roadblocks in the Tal and Nablus areas, saying they were after people involved in the incident. The military said it was preparing for “a major counter-terrorism operation in this sector” and canceled the leave.
Hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said nearby Palestinian villages should be evacuated from their residents and new settlements to strengthen security.
“This is our proper Zionist response to terrorism and terrorism, and the desire to harm our power in the areas of our country,” he said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had conducted a security assessment of Friday’s incident, along with the defense minister and the army chief.
Another attack followed the death of an Israeli
Also on Friday, five Palestinian villages around Nablus were attacked by Israeli settlers, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
In another incident, the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, settlers attacked a village near the city of Qalqilya, injuring two people and burning trees and cars. The Israeli army was not immediately available for comment.
The towns and villages surrounding Nablus occupy one of the most violent areas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which Israel has occupied since the 1967 Middle East war and which the Palestinians consider part of their homeland.
In addition to newly approved settlements, at least nine agricultural settlements dot the area, and attacks by Israeli settlers, military incursions and confrontations have become commonplace.
Palestinians and human rights groups have increasingly documented armed settlers entering villages in the area. It is reported that the theft of livestock, burning and destruction of mosques.
Some of those incidents have been so-called reprisals following Israeli deaths, such as the death of 18-year-old Yehuda Sherman on March 21. Sherman was killed when a Palestinian vehicle rammed his ATV near Beit Imrin.
Major politicians, including Smotrich, attended Sherman’s funeral and called for revenge.
Over the next two days, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs documented 32 civilian attacks affecting 30 Palestinian villages and communities across the West Bank, about a third of which is near the Nablus region. Settlers burned homes and cars, destroyed property and beat residents, injuring at least 32 Palestinians, according to OCHA.
According to Palestinian Authority figures, 87 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank so far this year, including 21 killed by Israeli settlers. Statistics from the United Nations indicate that 850 Palestinians have been injured during attacks on immigrants in Israel since the beginning of the year.
The Israeli army demolished about 40 buildings in the West Bank as part of its campaign to expand the E1 settlement. The Palestinians say it is another example of increasing lawlessness and violence in an area considered important to the two-state solution.
