By AP
Israel's military said Saturday that the body of a missing young Israeli was found in the occupied West Bank after he was killed in a "terrorist attack."
The Israel Defense Forces said dozens of people, both Palestinians and Israelis, were injured in clashes in several locations on Saturday, by gunshots and stones. Several army companies were deployed and “all incidents have concluded,” he said.
The disappearance of 14-year-old Binyamin Achimair sparked an assault by Israeli settlers on a Palestinian town on Friday and Saturday. These events were the latest episode in the escalation of violence in the territory, as Israel wages a war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. On social networks, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant asked citizens not to take justice into their own hands.
Security forces were searching for the alleged perpetrators of the young man's death, the army said.
So far no one has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping or murder of the young Israeli.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the crime.
“We will get to the killers and their henchmen, as we always get to anyone who harms the citizens of the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
He had no gunshot wounds.
According to the Israeli press, the young man was last seen leaving the Malachei Shalom settlement on Friday morning to herd sheep. The sheep returned to the location without him, according to reports.
Israeli television Channel 13 indicated that Achimair's body was detected by a drone. According to the report, the body did not have gunshot wounds, but did not give details.
On Friday, Palestinian Jehad Abu Alia was killed and 25 other people were wounded in an attack on the town of Mughayyir, according to Palestinian health authorities. According to witnesses, Israeli troops delayed the passage of the ambulance carrying the body of the 26-year-old man for several hours.
Dozens of settlers returned to the outskirts of the town on Saturday and set fire to 12 homes and several cars. The Palestinian Health Ministry said three people from the village were injured, one seriously. Border police fired tear gas at villagers who had gathered
“They entered the house and burned it and burned cars, as you can see,” said Akef Abu Allu, 42, looking at his burned two-story house in al-Mughayyir.
The Israeli human rights group Yesh Din stated in a statement that at least 10 villages in the West Bank were attacked by Israeli settlers, with homes and vehicles damaged.
In the nearby village of Douma, Israeli settlers set fire to 10 homes and 10 farms, local council leader Slieman Dawabsheh told The Associated Press, saying he was there. “The army did come, but unfortunately, the army protected the settlers,” he said, adding that the soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets at Palestinians who were trying to expel the settlers.
According to Palestinian health authorities, more than 460 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli fire since the start of the war in Gaza in October.
Tensions have been rising in the West Bank since the outbreak of war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7. Israel declared war on Hamas after that group invaded southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 250 others. More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive since then, according to Israeli officials. Loop.
Since the outbreak of the war, Hamas has been trying to provoke fighting on other fronts, such as in the West Bank, in hopes of putting more pressure on Israel. Such efforts have basically failed.
Several Israeli governments have expanded settlement construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, territories that Palestinians long for for a future state, in addition to the Gaza Strip. Some are very developed and look more like suburbs, while the smaller ones are made up of mobile homes.
While Israel has built many settlements in the West Bank, there are some makeshift settlements that are unauthorized, although they have tacit support from the government. The international community generally views all settlements as illegal and obstacles to peace.
More than 700,000 Israelis today live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in the 1967 war.