Netanyahu orders new West Bank settler outposts, legalises existing ones after deadly clash
· France 24Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday announced a series of "forceful" measures in the West Bank and said his government would establish new settler outposts in the occupied Palestinian territory and legalise more existing ones.
The announcement followed a deadly clash in the West Bank that left two Israeli and four Palestinians dead.
In a joint statement with Defence Minister Israel Katz, Netanyahu and announced "a series of steps" including raids in Palestinian villages suspected of hosting militants and "accelerating the legalisation of farm outposts and establishment of new ones".
All the settlements are illegal under international law.
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Four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed near a Palestinian village on Friday in a confrontation that added to a growing toll over recent weeks as Israeli settler violence has intensified against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian officials said Palestinians from the West Bank town of Tal, southwest of the Palestinian city of Nablus, had been attacked by the Israeli civilians and that four had been shot dead and four wounded by both Israeli civilians and Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli military said it had been dispatched to the area after reports of an attack on Israeli civilians who were hiking there. The military said a Palestinian had stolen a weapon from local security personnel and fired at the Israeli civilians.
Occupied West Bank school protests planned demolition by Israeli forces
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Essam Saifi, a local leader in the Palestinian Fatah party from Tal, told Reuters in a phone call that about 25 to 30 Jewish settlers initially attacked the eastern area of Tal and tried to break into two houses there. The residents came out to confront them and the settlers opened fire, Saifi said.
Half an hour later, Saifi said, the Israelis returned and attacked the western part of the town, striking a minor with a weapon. This caused chaos and then the Israeli military arrived and started shooting, along with the settlers, Saifi told Reuters.
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Israeli military set for major operation
On Friday, Israeli troops set up roadblocks in the area around Tal and Nablus and said they were pursuing individuals involved in the incident. The military said it was preparing for "extensive counterterrorism operational activity in the sector" and had cancelled leave.
Hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said nearby Palestinian villages should be cleared of their inhabitants and new settlements built to establish security.
"This is our appropriate Zionist answer to terrorists and terrorism, and to the desire to harm our grip on the areas of our country," he said in a statement.
Netanyahu said he had conducted a security assessment into the incident, along with the defence minister and the military's chief of staff.
Three months before Israelis go to the polls, Netanyahu's pro-settler government has stepped up preparations to expand settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians view it as part of their state along with Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
In a separate incident, the Palestinian Authority foreign ministry said settlers had attacked a village near the city of Qalqilya, wounding two people and setting fire to trees and cars. The Israeli military was not immediately available for comment.
Violence in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, has surged since the start of the war in Gaza.
Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank alongside around three million Palestinians.
All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.
According to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,094 Palestinians, including both militants and civilians, since the start of the Gaza war.
Official Israeli figures show at least 47 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations over the same period.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)