TURMUS AYYA, West Bank (AP) — Hundreds of Israeli settlers stormed into a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, setting fire to dozens of cars and homes to avenge the deaths of four Israelis killed by a pair of Palestinian gunmen the previous day, residents said. Palestinians said one man was killed in the violence.
The settler attack came as the Israeli military deployed additional forces across the occupied West Bank, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to build 1,000 new settler homes in response to the deadly shooting.
The moves threatened to further raise tensions after two days of deadly fighting in the West Bank that included a daylong Israeli military raid in a Palestinian militant stronghold and Tuesday's mass shooting.
Palestinian residents and human rights groups have long complained about Israel's inability or refusal to halt settler violence. In Wednesday's rampage, residents in Turmus Ayya said some 400 settlers marched down the town's main road, setting fire to cars, homes and trees.
Mayor Lafi Adeeb said some 30 houses and 60 cars were partly or totally burned.
“The attacks intensified in the past hour even after the army came,” he said. At least eight Palestinians were hurt during the ensuing clashes, which the army tried to disperse by firing rubber bullets and tear gas.
Palestinian medical officials said one man — identified as 27-year-old Omar Qatin — was killed by army fire and two other people were wounded. Residents said Qatin was a father of two small children and worked as an electrician for the local municipality.
“He was just standing there, innocent, he is such a kind hearted kid. He had no stones, he was totally unarmed, he was at least half a mile (one kilometer) away from the military,” said Khamis Jbara, his neighbor. “He works from 6am to 6pm. He is a peaceful man.”
Palestinian residents of the town, known for its large number of American citizens , were seething and in shock after the attack.
Streets were littered broken pots, uprooted trees, charred yard furniture and skeletons of cars. At least one house was completely torched, the living room blackened, the furniture burned to ashes.
“It was terrifying, we just saw mobs of people in the streets, masked, armed,” said Mohammed Suleiman, a 56-year-old Palestinian-American who lives in Chicago and was visiting his hometown. He said his brother, who is currently in Chicago, owns one of the burned houses.
Suleiman blamed the Israeli military for failing to de-escalate the situation, saying that the army turned their guns on the Palestinian residents instead of the vandals marching into the town with guns and firebombs, throwing fuel oil and setting alight everything in their path.
”(The army) was literally clearing the way for them,” he said.
Abdulkarim Abdulkarim, a 44-year-old resident of Ohio, said his family’s four cars were burned and house damaged. “We feel totally unsafe,” he said, visibly shaken. “They call us terrorists but here you have terrorism supported by the government.”
The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
The settler attack brought back memories of a settler rampage last February in which dozens of cars and homes were torched in the town of Hawara following the killing of a pair of Israeli brothers by a Palestinian gunman.
Tuesday's shooting in the settlement of Eli came a day after seven Palestinians were killed in a daylong battle against Israeli troops in the militant stronghold of Jenin. The worsening violence has created a test for Israel’s government and prompted calls for a widespread military operation in the West Bank.
As Israel deployed more forces to the area, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had approved plans to build 1,000 new homes in Eli.
“Our answer to terror is to strike it hard and to build our country,” Netanyahu said.
The international community opposes settlements on occupied lands sought by the Palestinians for a future independent state. Netanyahu's far-right government is dominated by settler leaders and supporters.
Israeli media identified the four killed in the shooting as Harel Masood, 21, Ofer Fayerman, 64, and Elisha Anteman, 18, Nahman-Shmuel Mordoff, 17. An Israeli civilian killed one assailant at the scene, while Israeli troops chased and killed the second shooter after he fled.
The army said it was beefing up its troop presence in the West Bank. On Wednesday morning, it said troops arrested three suspects in the Palestinian village of Urif in connection to the attack and mapped out the homes of the two gunmen ahead of their likely demolition.
Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinian attackers as part of a policy it says aims to deter others, but critics say the tactic amounts to collective punishment.
Hamas did not officially claim responsibility for the attack, although it identified the two gunmen — Mohannad Faleh, 26, and Khaled Sabah, 24, — as its members.
In the aftermath of Tuesday's attack, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian property in adjacent villages, causing extensive property damage. At least five Palestinians were wounded in attacks by Israeli settlers, Israel’s army radio reported.
Tuesday’s shooting followed a massive gunbattle between Palestinian militants and Israeli troops in the northern Jenin refugee camp a day earlier. On Wednesday, the Palestinian death toll from the raid rose to seven when 15-year-old Sadeel Naghniyeh succumbed to wounds sustained in the gunbattle, Palestinian health officials said.
Some 90 Palestinians, and eight Israeli soldiers were also wounded in the shootout.
Tuesday's deadly shooting was the latest in a long string of violence in the region over the past year and half that shows no sign of relenting. At least 130 Palestinians and 24 people on the Israeli side have been killed so far this year, according to a tally by The Associated Press.
Israel has been staging near-nightly raids in the West Bank in response to a string of deadly Palestinian attacks targeting Israeli civilians early in 2022. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were militants, but stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also been killed.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories for a future independent state.
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By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press
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