FOUR ISRAELI SETTLERS SHOT DEAD IN ATTACK IN THE OCCUPIED WEST BANK

Tue 20 June 2023:

A day after a deadly raid by Israeli army, at least four Israeli settlers were killed in a shooting by two Palestinian armed men close to an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank.

The incident near Eli in the northern West Bank on Tuesday left four people confirmed dead and four others injured, according to a statement from Magen David Adom emergency services.

One of the gunmen was shot dead at the scene and Israeli forces later killed the second suspect near Nablus after he fled in a taxi. Palestinian officials did not immediately comment.

The Palestinians were identified as Mohannad Faleh Shhadeh and Khaled Mostafa Sbah – both from the village of Urif near Nablus.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an “urgent security consultation”, said Khan. His far-right allies have been calling for a large-scale military operation in the occupied West Bank for months now.

Netanyahu later issued a threat of a violent response.

“We have proven in recent months that we take revenge on all murders, without exception. Whoever harmed us will either end up in the grave or in prison. This is what will happen in this case as well,” said the Israeli leader.

The shooting came a day after six Palestinians were killed in Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank during a large-scale Israeli military incursion. At least 91 people were wounded during the nine-hour raid.

Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for Hamas, the group that governs the besieged Gaza Strip, described Tuesday’s shooting as a “response to the crimes of the [Israeli] occupation” in Jenin and elsewhere.

Hamas later said one of the shooters was a member of its armed wing.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad also commended the attack, saying it was a natural response to growing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.

The armed group said it considered the shooting to be part of Palestinians’ “legitimate right to exercise self-defence”.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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