The Israeli military said Saturday that the body of a missing Israeli teenager was found in the West Bank after he was killed in a “terrorist attack” as violence escalated in the Israeli-occupied territory. tensions have been brewing for months.
The disappearance of Binyamin Achimair, 14, triggered attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villages on Friday and Saturday. On Friday, one Palestinian was killed and 25 others injured in the attack on the village of al-Mughayyir, Palestinian health officials said. On Saturday, Israeli troops delayed the ambulance carrying the 26-year-old’s body for burial for several hours, witnesses said.
Dozens of Israeli settlers returned to the outskirts of the village on Saturday, burning 12 houses and several cars. The Palestinian Health Ministry said three residents of the village were injured, one seriously. Border police fired tear gas at the gathered villagers, trying to disperse them.
In the nearby village of Douma, Israeli settlers burned several houses, according to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency. The Palestinian Red Crescent said six people were shot and wounded, but did not say who fired the shots.
Tensions in the West Bank have been particularly high since the start of the crisis. Israel-Hamas War in the neighboring Gaza Strip on October 7, sparked by the Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. More than 33,000 Palestinians in Gaza were killed during the Israeli offensive, according to Gaza health authorities.
Since then, Hamas has tried to ignite other fronts, notably in the West Bank, in the hope of exerting more pressure on Israel. Such efforts have largely failed, although more than 460 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since October 7, most in clashes sparked by army raids, but some by vigilante settlers.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killing of the Israeli teenager.
Nasser Nasser / AP
According to Israeli media, the teenager was last seen leaving the Malachei Shalom outpost early Friday to tend livestock nearby. The sheep returned to the outpost a few hours later without him, according to reports.
Israel’s Channel 13 reported that Achimair’s body was discovered by a drone. The station said he was not shot, but did not provide further details.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the killing. “We will tackle the murderers and their accomplices as we do anyone who harms the citizens of the State of Israel,” he said in a statement released by his office.
In 2014, the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank escalated tensions and ultimately sparked a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, at the time the deadliest round of fighting between the two sides.
Successive Israeli governments have expanded Israeli settlement construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, territories Palestinians seek for a future state, alongside Gaza. Some are highly developed and resemble suburbs of Israeli cities, while smaller outposts often have only a few caravans.
While Israel has established numerous settlements across the occupied West Bank, outposts are not permitted, although the government provides tacit support for them. The international community overwhelmingly considers all West Bank settlements to be illegal and obstacles to peace.
More than 700,000 Israelis now live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem – territories conquered by Israel in 1967.
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