Two Israelis were killed on Sunday February 26 in an attack on their car in the northern West Bank – Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967 – according to a press release from Benyamin Netanyahu and his national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir. His government calls this attack a "Palestinian terrorist attack", and adds to the text: "Our response to terrorism is to fight it with force and to strengthen our roots in our land. »
The attack took place on the main road in Hawara, near Nablus. The IDF said a "terrorist [opened fire on an Israeli vehicle" and soldiers then cordoned off the area for search operations. The Shomron regional council, which manages the Jewish settlements in this area, identified the two victims as two brothers, Hillel and Yagel Yaniv, inhabitants of the settlement of Har Bracha, close to the place of the attack, aged respectively 22 and 20 years.
In their press release, MM. Netanyahu and Ben Gvir announce that a ministerial committee has voted in favor of a “proposal of law opening the possibility for a court to impose the death penalty on terrorists”.
Discuss a lull in the occupied Palestinian territories
The attack comes as a "politico-security" meeting opened in Jordan on Sunday in the Jordanian city of Akaba to discuss a lull in the occupied Palestinian territories after several days of deadly violence. In Jordan, the meeting is the first of its kind in years between Palestinians and Israelis, with regional and international participation in an attempt to put an end to the spiral of violence observed since the beginning of the year, after taking office , at the end of December 2022, of the government formed by Binyamin Netanyahu (right) with allies of the far right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish formations.
According to informed sources, Palestinian intelligence chief Majed Faraj, Israeli domestic intelligence chief Shin Beth Ronen Bar, US National Security Council Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk, as well as officials Jordanian and Egyptian security officers attend the meeting.
The talks aim to "build confidence" between Israel and the Palestinians, and to achieve calming measures, a Jordanian government official who requested anonymity told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"[The talks] are part of intensified efforts...to end [Israel's] unilateral moves and a deterioration in security that could fuel further violence." »
The Israeli army has multiplied, for almost a year, its operations in the north of the West Bank, a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups. 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 11 civilians (including three minors) and one Israeli policeman as well as to a Ukrainian woman, according to an AFP tally compiled from official Israeli and Palestinian sources.
