Four Palestinians and one Israeli killed during West Bank settler attack | West Bank

Israel said it was preparing for a major military operation in the West Bank after four Palestinians and two Israelis were killed in the conflict that started after armed settlers entered a Palestinian village with the support of the Israeli army.

According to local residents, many more people were seriously injured at the scene after a fight broke out over an Israeli settler’s gun and the army opened fire. Dozens of people were reported injured in settler attacks on neighboring Palestinian towns.

The shooting in the Palestinian village of Tell near Nablus was the deadliest attack in the West Bank this year, and was followed by reprisals against nearby Palestinian towns, where settlers set fire to homes and attacked local residents. It was reported that at least eight more Palestinians were hospitalized, most of them with gunshot wounds.

The Israeli army announced that it was preparing for a “comprehensive” operation in the West Bank; soldiers surrounded the town of Nablus and security forces reportedly entered the hospital to arrest those injured in the violence.

The military has said it plans to arrest “dozens of Palestinians” involved in what it considers a terrorist attack, but video from the scene shows the confrontation was not pre-planned and involved a struggle over a gun in the hands of an armed settler.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense minister Israel Katz said in a statement: “Security forces must be allowed to act freely and with full force against terrorism.” They called for more troops to be sent to the West Bank, the demolition of the defendants’ homes in Tell, the collection of weapons in the village, and the cancellation of work permits.

Netanyahu also called for the construction of new settlement outposts in the region and the legalization of existing outposts. The settlements are illegal under Israeli law.

Yair Golan, chairman of the Israel Democrats party, said Netanyahu and Katz’s reaction showed “their clear intention to set fire to the region.” The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the incident, which it described as “a massacre of settlers in the village of Telli carried out jointly with the occupation forces.”

Tel village council chairman Walid Zidan told Agence France-Presse that about 20 Israeli settlers entered the village around 8:30 a.m. local time. “Villagers came out to defend their homes and property. Clashes and physical fights broke out between villagers and settlers,” Zidan said.

“Israeli soldiers were there and started opening fire with the settlers… It was the settlers who attacked the village with the intention of killing, destroying and setting fire to property,” he said.

In the video, an armed settler is seen approaching several Palestinian men near the village and pushing them back with his rifle, after which a fight broke out and one of the town’s Palestinian residents reached for a gun. It is unclear who shot the settler, 32-year-old Benayahu Mellet, a security guard at the nearby Israeli settlement of Havat Gilad.

The Israeli army said in a statement that it rushed to the aid of settlers who took an “unauthorized and uncoordinated march” in the village. They claimed that during the fight over the gun, a Palestinian living in the village took the gun and opened fire. The army said 27-year-old Major Yuval Ezra, a battery commander in the artillery regiment, was also killed in the clash. It was not immediately clear who shot him.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah said four Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces. All four of them were said to be cousins ​​from the same family and were named Farouk Ramazan, İbrahim Ramazan, Cevad Ramazan and İmran Ramazan.

Violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has flared in recent days, with Israeli settlers calling for attacks to “wipe out” the village.

Far-right and pro-settlement Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said the villages of Tell, Iraqi Burin and Beit Furik “should be exactly like the refugee camps in Nablus and Tulkarm,” referring to the mass destruction campaign that displaced tens of thousands of people in West Bank towns last year.

Netanyahu’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he would call for West Bank villages to be treated like Beit Hanoun in Gaza, which has been devastated by bombings, and demand that Israel bomb and bulldoze Palestinian homes.

Israel’s defense and finance ministers recently announced plans for new illegal settlements in Gaza, while the country’s military commander in the region celebrated the violent outposts as “security partners.”

All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.

According to UN figures, 230 Palestinians will be killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank in 2025.

Palestinian health officials said they were treating four injured Palestinians, three of whom were in critical condition. The Israeli rescue service said two injured Israelis were airlifted out of the West Bank.