An Israeli teenager whose disappearance sparked riots in the West Bank was found dead on Saturday, Israeli authorities said, threatening to increase tensions in the Israeli-occupied territory.
In a statement, the Israeli military said dozens of Israelis and Palestinians were injured in clashes at several locations across the West Bank late Saturday. According to Palestinian witnesses, Israeli extremists stormed at least two villages in the territory, plotting to burn Palestinian property and clash with residents.
According to Israeli police, Binyamin Achimair, 14, left an agricultural settlement in the West Bank to herd sheep on Friday morning but never returned. Israeli forces later found his body and the army said, without providing evidence, that he had been “murdered in a terrorist attack.”
After Binyamin disappeared on Friday, armed Israeli settlers stormed a Palestinian village near Ramallah, burning several buildings, according to Palestinian officials and Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights group. house and car. According to the village mayor, Amin Abu Aliya, a Palestinian man – Jihad Abu Aliya – was killed in the clashes and at least 25 others were injured.
Binyamin’s death and the possibility of further Israeli retaliation could increase violence in the West Bank, where about 500,000 Israeli settlers live alongside about 2.7 million Palestinians. According to the United Nations, more than 400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces across the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the Hamas-led attack on October 7 that sparked Israel’s campaign in Gaza.
The Israeli army announced on Saturday that it would reinforce its forces in the West Bank with additional companies and police.
According to an Israeli security official and Palestinian witnesses, Israeli mob attacks returned on Saturday in both Al Mughayir and Duma, a nearby Palestinian village. Israeli settlers, some armed, entered the villages and reportedly opened fire, the official added.
In Duma, the attackers “covered the entire village,” some of them armed, said Naser Dawabsheh, a villager. They burned several buildings and cars, creating a thick cloud of smoke overhead, he added. Israeli soldiers, he said, “did not disperse the settlers, they protected them and fired tear gas at anyone who came close.”
Saturday’s clashes in Al Mughayir left at least three Palestinians injured, one critically, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
“There is no order, there is no safety,” said Na’asan Na’asan, 28, a resident of Al Mughayir. “They’re shooting at us – why isn’t anyone protecting us?”
Veteran Israeli photojournalist Shaul Golan, 74, said in an interview that Israeli settlers also captured and beat him before destroying his equipment after he tried to film them in Al Mughayir. Some of them wore masks, while others wore Israeli military uniforms, he added.
“I begged the soldiers there to help me, to save me,” Mr. Golan said. “But then I realized they weren’t really soldiers – they were working alongside the soldiers.”
The Biden administration says Israel must do more to limit violence by radical Israeli settlers and has imposed sanctions on some people it says are involved in the protests. attack on Palestinians. Israeli leaders denounced the move as interference in the country’s internal affairs.
As the Israeli army and police searched for Binyamin on Friday afternoon, armed Israeli settlers stormed Al Mughayir, burning buildings and cars, Abu Aliya said. In the video circulated by Yesh Din, smoke can be seen billowing from several burning cars and buildings.
In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel condemned Binyamin’s “heinous murder” and vowed that Israel would “close accounts” with whoever killed him. He did not explicitly mention the settler rebellions, instead telling the Israeli public to “allow security forces to conduct their work unhindered” as they investigate the killings. .
Yair Lapid, leader of the opposition in the Israeli parliament, similarly condemned the teenager’s murder. But he also denounced settler attacks, saying “violent riots by settlers are dangerous violations of the law and they are hindering forces operating on the ground.”
The Israeli military confirmed that multiple “violent riots” took place in the area during Friday’s search efforts. The Israeli military said at one point, “rocks were thrown” at Israeli soldiers, causing them to fire in response. The army said Israeli police and soldiers also expelled Israeli settlers who had entered Al Mughayir.
Israeli soldiers were present in the area “even before the settlers arrived,” Mr. Na’asan said, but did not block them from entering the village and burning buildings and cars. It is unclear how Jihad Abu Aliya, a resident of the village, was killed.
Human rights groups have long accused Israeli authorities of not doing enough to stop violent attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and that perpetrators are rarely caught. An Israeli police spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on whether any Israelis were arrested in the incident.
Last February, an attack by Israeli settlers devastated the Palestinian town of Huwara in the northern West Bank. According to Palestinian officials, at least one Palestinian was killed and 390 injured in the riot, in which Israelis burned several buildings and cars while frightened Palestinians fled burning houses. on fire.
