Israeli settlers were killed by two Palestinians in the West Bank on Monday, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials, as tensions continue to rise in the Israeli-occupied territory.
The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry identified the two men as Abdelrahman Bani Fadel, 30, and Mohammad Bani Jama, 21. The circumstances of their deaths near the town of Aqraba remained unclear.
The Israeli military said the two men were killed in a “violent exchange” between Israeli settlers and Palestinians following a report of a Palestinian attacking an Israeli shepherd. An initial investigation indicated that the shot “did not come from” Israeli soldiers, the military said.
The two Palestinians appeared to have been shot by Israeli settlers at the scene, said an Israeli security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still underway.
The killings have fueled fears that the West Bank could become another front for a country now in its seventh month of war on the Gaza Strip.
About 500,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank live alongside about 2.7 million Palestinians under Israeli military occupation. Since the war began on October 7, more than 400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces there and in East Jerusalem, according to the United Nations.
In the past few days, a new wave of violence has swept through the West Bank.
On Friday, a 14-year-old Israeli teenager went missing, prompting Israeli settlers to riot inside the Palestinian village, Al Mughir. Jihad Abu Aliya, a 25-year-old resident, was shot dead in a mob attack, according to barangay mayor Amin Abu Aliya.
The teenager, Binyamin Achiair, was found dead on Saturday after an intensive search; Israeli officials said he was killed in an act of terrorism and vowed to track down the culprits. In response, Israeli settlers, some of them armed, carried out a series of mob attacks on Palestinian towns, burning homes and vehicles, according to Palestinian witnesses.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Israelis to allow security forces to find Mr. Achiair’s killers, but he did not condemn mob attacks against Palestinians. Human rights groups have long accused Israel of turning a blind eye to settler violence and rarely bringing perpetrators to justice.
In footage distributed on Sunday by Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group that monitors violence by Jewish extremists in the West Bank, shows hooded figures setting fire to a car while Israeli soldiers watch nearby .
The United Nations human rights office said Tuesday that Israeli security forces “must end their active participation in and support for settler attacks on Palestinians.”
“The Israeli authorities should instead prevent further attacks including holding those responsible accountable,” said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the office. “Those reasonably suspected of criminal acts, including murder or other unlawful killings, must be brought to justice,” he added.
Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesman, condemned the killing of Mr. Achiair in a statement on Monday. But he also said that Washington is “especially concerned about the violence against Palestinian civilians and their property that occurred in the West Bank after the disappearance of Achiair.”
“We strongly condemn these killings, and our thoughts are with their loved ones,” Mr. Miller said. “Violence must stop. Civilians are never legitimate targets.”
Nick Cumming-Bruce contributed reporting.
