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Tell clash triggers operation
Four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed near the Palestinian village of Tal, southwest of Nablus, on Friday as Israeli forces and settlers confronted Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military said it had received reports that Israeli civilians who were hiking in the area had been attacked near Tal in the so-called Area A, where Israelis are officially prohibited from entering.
The military said a Palestinian man took a weapon from Israeli security personnel from the nearby settlement of Havat Gilad and opened fire, wounding several Israelis before being killed, and it identified 32-year-old Benayahu Mellet as one of the Israelis killed.
CNN reported that Israel prepared a large-scale operation in the occupied West Bank after the clashes, and it said the Palestinian Ministry of Health stated the four Palestinians were shot by Israeli soldiers.
Al Jazeera reported that the Israeli military launched “counterterrorism” operations and ordered a curfew after the violence, with Netanyahu announcing raids in Palestinian villages suspected of hosting “militants.”
Voices clash over blame
Bezalel Smotrich called for demolition of Palestinian villages, saying, “The population must be evacuated for its own protection, and these villages must be cleared of terrorist infrastructure and terrorists in order to restore deterrence and security to the area,” as CNN described video in which calls for “revenge” in Hebrew were heard in the background.
The UN called for “urgent action” to end the escalating violence, with Ramiz Alakbarov saying, “Israel must take immediate steps to prevent settler violence, protect Palestinian communities, and ensure that those responsible for attacks are held accountable.”
The Palestinian Authority condemned the settler attacks and criticized Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz for “accelerating the establishment and legalization of colonial outposts” and reinforcing the IDF’s presence in the West Bank, according to WAFA as cited by CNN.
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim said the incident took place after Israeli settlers stormed Tal under a “pretext that they were hiking in the area,” and she warned that checkpoints and closed roads prevented injured Palestinians from accessing medical help.
Haaretz reported that the IDF said it was reinforcing troops ahead of a sweeping operation, identifying Benayahu Mellet, 32, and Major Yuval Ezra, 27, as the two Israelis killed.
What comes next in West Bank
After the clashes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered measures including the collection of weapons and the revoking of work permits, and they also said they would accelerate the legalisation of farm outposts and establishment of new ones, according to Mondoweiss.
Mondoweiss also reported that Netanyahu and Katz ordered the army to demolish the home of the Palestinian who shot and killed the Israeli settler in Tell and to confiscate all weapons in the villages from which attacks against settlers came, without specifying which villages.
Al Jazeera said Israeli forces surrounded Nablus and imposed a security cordon around Nablus and Tal, while it reported that Palestinian sources described siege-like conditions that prevented injured Palestinians from reaching medical help.
The Guardian reported that Israel’s military announced it was preparing for an “extensive” operation, with troops surrounding Nablus and security forces entering the hospital to arrest those wounded, and it said the military planned to apprehend “dozens of Palestinians.”
Anadolu Ajansı quoted the Palestinian presidency warning that Israel’s decision to carry out a wide military operation in the occupied West Bank could ignite the situation and drag the entire region into serious consequences, urging Washington to intervene to compel Tel Aviv to stop it.
