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Tal clashes and deaths
Four Palestinians and two Israelis were killed in a shooting in the occupied West Bank village of Tal, with the BBC describing it as the deadliest single incident there in months.
“- Published At least four Palestinians and two Israelis have been killed in a shooting in the occupied West Bank - the deadliest single incident there in months”
The BBC said Palestinians told it residents confronted Jewish settlers who were attacking them, and that an eyewitness said soldiers then arrived and started shooting, while Israel’s military said it responded to reports that hikers had been attacked and claimed “terrorists stole the weapon” of a security guard and killed him before being killed by soldiers.
In the same incident, the BBC reported that the other three killed were members of the same Palestinian family and that a second Israeli, a soldier, was also killed, while it added that the Israel Defense Forces said Palestinians began the attack and that the hike was not co-ordinated with them.
Haaretz reported that the Israeli military announced on Friday it was reinforcing troops in the West Bank ahead of a sweeping operation after clashes near Nablus in which two Israelis and four Palestinians were killed, and it identified the Israelis killed as Benayahu Mellet, 32, and Major Yuval Ezra, 27.
Haaretz also said the army imposed a full closure on Nablus after the incident in the village of Tel and launched a large-scale operation in the city and nearby villages, with a curfew imposed on the villages of Burin and Tel.
Statements and competing accounts
The BBC reported conflicting accounts of the sequence of events in Tal, with Palestinians telling it residents confronted Jewish settlers attacking them and an eyewitness saying soldiers then arrived and started shooting.
The BBC also quoted Israel’s military claim that it “eliminated the terrorist who executed the terror attack”, adding that the head of the army’s central command, Maj Gen Avi Bluth, said the four members of the same family were killed “in the exchange of fire”.
Haaretz said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to accelerate the legalization of farms and outposts in the West Bank and establish new ones following recent clashes in the Nablus area, and it reported that they ordered the demolition of the home of the Palestinian who allegedly shot and killed Benayahu Mellet.
Haaretz further said the measures included weapons seizures, revoking work permits for Palestinians, reinforcing IDF forces across the West Bank, and increasing separation between Israeli and Palestinian traffic routes through checkpoints and road restrictions.
The Guardian described Israel’s planned response as an “extensive” operation and said Netanyahu and Israel Katz told the security forces they must be allowed to act freely and with full force against terrorism, while it also reported that the Palestinian foreign ministry condemned what it described as a “massacre committed by settlers in partnership with the occupation forces” in Tell.
What comes next
Haaretz said the IDF decided two weeks ago to withdraw troops from other fronts—Lebanon and Gaza—and redeploy them to the West Bank, and it reported that the army said there are currently 126 outposts in the West Bank that it is struggling to protect.
“The Israeli military announced on Friday that it is reinforcing troops in the West Bank ahead of a sweeping operation, following clashes between Israelis and Palestinians near Nablus in which two Israelis and four Palestinians were killed, and amid preparations for a possible escalation with Iran”
Haaretz also reported that over the past week, IDF forces arrested more than 80 wanted Palestinians in the West Bank, including stone throwers, firebomb throwers and residents identified with Hamas, and it described a wave of retaliatory settler attacks including raids in Jit and Burin and an arson attack in Far'ata.
The Guardian said Israel planned to apprehend “dozens of Palestinians” involved in the incident and that troops were surrounding the town of Nablus, with reports of security forces entering the hospital to arrest those wounded in the violence.
The Guardian also reported that Netanyahu called for razing the homes of the accused in Tell and for the collection of weapons and revoking of work permits in the village, alongside calls for new settlement outposts and the legalisation of existing outposts.
In the BBC account, Netanyahu vowed to act “with full force against the terrorists and those who orchestrate and sponsor them,” and his office issued a joint statement with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying the home of the Palestinian shooter in Tal would be demolished and that the legalisation of unauthorised settler outposts and the establishment of new ones would be speeded up.
