After two young Israelis living in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank were shot and killed Sunday (February 26th) in an attack on their car, violence erupted in the Palestinian town of Houwara, near Nablus.
Israeli settlers torched dozens of cars and homes on Sunday evening. According to the Palestinian media, around 30 houses and cars were set on fire. Photos and videos posted on social media showed major fires in Houwara. In one video, a crowd of Jewish settlers pray as they watch a burning building.
The Shehab Agency news agency relayed images of tires burned by settlers.
The Palestinian health ministry said a 37-year-old man was killed by Israeli fire. The Palestinian Red Crescent Medical Service said two other people were shot, a third was stabbed and a fourth was hit with an iron bar. Nearly a hundred other people were treated for inhaling tear gas.
The violence comes as a meeting between Palestinian and Israeli officials was held on Sunday (February 26th) in Jordan to try to end the year-long spiral of violence in the occupied Palestinian territories after he took office. at the end of December of the government formed by Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu (right), with allies from the far right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish formations.
"End this cycle of violence"
The Israeli prime minister called for calm in a video released by his office. "I even ask you if the blood is still hot and the spirits high not to do justice yourself but to let the security forces accomplish their mission," Netanyahu said. The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a statement accusing Israel of "protecting terrorist acts perpetrated by settlers" in this area of the West Bank.
The European Union said it was "alarmed by today's violence in Houwara", and said "authorities on all sides must intervene now to end this endless cycle of violence". UK Ambassador to Israel Neil Wigan said "Israel must tackle settler violence and bring those responsible to justice."
Ghassan Douglas, a Palestinian official who monitors Israeli settlements in the Nablus area, said settlers burned at least six homes and dozens of cars in Houwara, and reported attacks on other nearby Palestinian villages. He estimated that about four hundred Jewish settlers took part in the attack. "I have never seen such an attack," he said.
The death of the two young Israelis comes in a context of rising violence, particularly in the northern West Bank, where the army has been increasing its operations for almost a year. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. Eleven Palestinians were killed in Nablus on Wednesday in the Israeli army's deadliest raid in the West Bank since at least 2005.
Since the beginning of the year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of 62 Palestinians (including members of armed groups and civilians, including minors) and eleven civilians (including three minors) and one Israeli policeman as well as a Ukrainian, according to a count by Agence France-Presse based on official Israeli and Palestinian sources.
