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April 16, 2024 – 02:48
(Keystone-ATS) Two Palestinians were shot dead Monday in the northern occupied West Bank after clashes with Israeli settlers, the Palestinian Authority’s health ministry said. He specified that “shooting by settlers” was the cause of their deaths.
These clashes occurred in Khirbet al-Tawi after a “Palestinian suspect attacked an Israeli shepherd,” the Israeli army said, adding that soldiers “operated to disperse the violent exchange.” During the incident, two Palestinians were killed and “an initial investigation suggests that the fatal shots did not come” from the army, she added.
According to the mayor of Aqraba, “dozens of settlers” attacked Khirbet al-Tawil on Monday evening, “attacked and shot residents, leading to the death of two citizens”.
Villages attacked
The death a few days ago of an Israeli teenager murdered in unknown circumstances in the West Bank provoked major reprisals from settlers who attacked villages and burned Palestinian homes and cars.
Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, violence has intensified in the West Bank. At least 468 Palestinians have been killed there by Israeli soldiers or settlers over the past six months, according to the Palestinian authority.
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where more than 490,000 Israelis reside, are all illegal under international law.
