AL MUGAYIR, West Bank (AP) – The Israeli military said Saturday that the body of a missing Israeli teenager has been found underground. west bank Violence escalates across Israeli-occupied territory, after killing in 'terrorist attack' tension increased For several months.
The disappearance of 14-year-old Binyamin Ashimer sparked attacks on Palestinian villages by Israeli settlers on Friday and Saturday. In a statement on social media, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant urged people not to take the law into their own hands.
Palestinian health officials said Friday that Palestinian Jihad Abu Aliyah was killed and 25 others injured in an attack on the village of Al-Mughair. On Saturday, Israeli forces delayed the arrival of an ambulance carrying the 26-year-old's body for burial for several hours, according to witnesses.
On Saturday, dozens of Israeli settlers returned to the outskirts of the village and burned down 12 homes and several cars. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said three people in the village were injured, one seriously. Border police fired tear gas at the assembled villagers in an attempt to disperse them.
In the nearby village of Duma, Israeli settlers set fire to about 15 houses and 10 farms, local village council president Sulieman Dawabshe told The Associated Press. “The military came, but unfortunately they were protecting the settlers,” he said, claiming they fired tear gas and rubber bullets at Palestinians who tried to confront and expel them.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment. The Palestinian Red Crescent said six people were injured in the shooting, but did not say who fired the shots.
Tensions in the West Bank have been particularly high since the outbreak of large-scale conflict. israel-hamas war The attack occurred near Gaza on October 7 in the wake of a Hamas attack on southern Israel that left around 1,200 people dead and 250 hostages taken. More than 33,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been killed in Israeli attacks, according to Gaza health officials.
Since then, Hamas has tried to ignite other fronts, including the West Bank, in hopes of putting further pressure on Israel. These efforts have largely failed, although more than 460 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli shelling in the West Bank since October 7, mostly in clashes sparked by military raids. Some were by vigilante settlers.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killing of the Israeli teenager.
According to Israeli media, the boy was last seen leaving the settler outpost of Marakei Shalom early Friday to tend to livestock nearby. The sheep returned to the outpost without him several hours later, the report said.
Israel's Channel 13 television reported that Ashmer's body was found by a drone. The station said he had not been shot, but did not provide further details.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the killing in a statement released by his office, saying, “We will pursue the murderers and their collaborators as well as those who harmed the Israeli people.”
In 2014, the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank led to heightened tensions that ultimately led to a 50-day Israeli-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, between the two sides. It was the most brutal battle ever fought.
The Israeli government has Expansion of Israeli settlement construction East Jerusalem and the West Bank are areas where Palestinians aspire to a future state, along with Gaza. Some are highly developed and resemble the outskirts of Israeli cities, while smaller outposts often contain only a few caravans.
Israel has established numerous settlements throughout the occupied West Bank, but no outposts are authorized. give them implicit support. The international community overwhelmingly believes that all settlements in the West Bank are illegal; Obstacles to peace.
More than 700,000 Israelis currently live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, territory captured by Israel in 1967.