Tensions continued to rise in the Israeli-occupied territories, with Israeli civilians shooting dead two Palestinians in the West Bank on Monday, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials.
The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry identified the two men as Abdelrahman Bani Fadel, 30, and Mohammad Bani Jama, 21. The circumstances of their deaths near the town of Akrabah remain unclear.
The Israeli military said the two men were killed in “violent exchanges” between Israeli civilians and Palestinians after reports that a Palestinian attacked an Israeli shepherd. The military said a preliminary investigation showed the gunfire “did not come from” Israeli soldiers.
An Israeli security official said the two Palestinians appeared to have been shot dead by Israeli civilians at the scene. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
The killings have heightened concerns that the West Bank could become another front for the country as its war in the Gaza Strip enters its seventh month.
There are approximately 500,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, living alongside approximately 2.7 million Palestinians under Israeli military occupation. According to the United Nations, more than 400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces there and in east Jerusalem since the war broke out on October 7.
A new wave of violence has swept through the West Bank in the past few days.
The disappearance of a 14-year-old Israeli teenager led to riots among Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Al Mughayir on Friday. Resident Jihad Abu Aliya, 25, was shot dead in a mob attack, according to village chief Amin Abu Aliya.
The teenager, Binyamin Achimair, was found dead on Saturday after an intensive search. Israeli officials said he was murdered in a terror attack and vowed to track down his killers. In response, Israeli settlers, some of whom were armed, carried out a series of mob attacks in Palestinian towns, burning houses and cars, according to Palestinian witnesses.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Israel to allow security forces to hunt for Achmeir’s killers, but he stopped short of condemning mob attacks against Palestinians. Rights groups have long accused Israel of turning a blind eye to settler violence and rarely bringing perpetrators to justice.
exist lens The report, released Sunday by Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group that tracks Jewish extremist violence in the West Bank, showed hooded figures setting a car on fire while Israeli soldiers watched nearby without intervening.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller condemned Archmaier’s killing in a statement on Monday. But he also said Washington was “increasingly concerned about violence against Palestinian civilians and their property in the West Bank following Achmaier’s disappearance”.
“We strongly condemn these murders and our thoughts are with their loved ones,” Mr Miller said. “The violence must stop. Civilians are never legitimate targets.”
