West Bank Settler Violence Flares: 2 Palestinians Killed, Israeli Wounded

Two Palestinians were killed and an Israeli settler was critically wounded in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank on Monday, officials and residents said, as violence involving Israeli troops, Palestinian residents and settlers was reported in Hajja and near Qusra.

The incidents were the latest in a series of confrontations involving Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank. Attacks by militant settlers on Palestinians have drawn international condemnation, while Reuters reported on Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered some outposts to be dismantled after pressure from Washington.

Palestinian killed during settler raid in Hajja

In Hajja, a village in the northern West Bank, Palestinians gathered overnight on the eastern edge of the village to confront around nine armed settlers who had entered the area, residents said.

The settlers came from an outpost around two kilometres from the village, travelling along a dirt road, they said. Israeli troops then approached the area from the opposite side, leaving the Palestinians between the soldiers and the settlers.

Residents said both the settlers and the troops opened fire. A 19-year-old Palestinian was killed and three others were wounded, they said.

The Israeli military said troops had deployed to Hajja after receiving a report that Israelis had entered the village. It said Palestinians threw stones towards the troops, who "carried out arrest procedures, including firing warning shots ​into the air, followed by fire toward key instigators. Hits were identified."

Ziad Batta, a Hajja resident, said he and more than 100 other villagers had rushed to the area to confront the settlers.

"The settlers started firing tear gas and stun grenades. There were also three army vehicles coming from the outpost, ‌and they ⁠started firing tear gas, live ammunition and stun grenades. The young men ran away," he said.

Palestinian shot dead after settler stabbing

In a separate incident, a Palestinian entered a settler outpost near Qusra village and stabbed a 20-year-old Israeli, critically wounding him, the Israeli military and medics said.

A siege by settlers there last month drew an international outcry.

The Israeli military said troops set up roadblocks in the area and located the Palestinian near a village to the west. The man then attempted to stab soldiers and was shot and killed by a military commander, it said.

The Palestinian Authority health ministry confirmed the death of a 34-year-old Palestinian but did not provide details.

Netanyahu said he wished "a complete recovery to the (Israeli) farm owner who ​was wounded in the attack" and that Israel "will continue to eliminate terrorists, hunt down those who dispatch ​them, and destroy the ⁠terrorist infrastructure in Judea and Samaria," using the biblical term for the West Bank.

Netanyahu order on settler outposts

Reuters reported on Sunday that Netanyahu had ordered some settler outposts to be dismantled after pressure from Washington. According to Reuters, the order followed a weekend visit by the US envoy to Israel to a Palestinian town that has faced settler attacks and is home to many American citizens.

The Israeli leader's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he had ordered some outposts to be dismantled.

Netanyahu has frequently said his government, the most right-wing in Israeli history, has supported the establishment of dozens of outposts. Such outposts often consist of prefabricated caravans set up without formal government approval.

His government has given retroactive legal status to many of them.

U.N. bodies and most governments deem all settlements in territory Israel occupied during the 1967 Middle East war illegal under international law. Israel rejects this, viewing the territory as disputed rather than occupied.