An Israeli teenager who disappeared in the West Bank during a riot by Israeli settlers was found dead on Saturday, threatening to further escalate tensions in the Israeli-occupied territory, Israeli authorities said.
Dozens of Israelis and Palestinians were injured in clashes across the West Bank late Saturday, the Israeli military said in a statement. Israeli militants attacked at least two villages in the territory, attempted to set fire to Palestinian property and clashed with residents, Palestinian witnesses said.
Israeli police said Binyamin Ashimer, 14, left a farming village in the West Bank on Friday morning to herd sheep but never returned. His body was later discovered by Israeli forces, who announced that he had been “killed in a terrorist attack” without providing any evidence.
After Binyamin's disappearance on Friday, armed Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian village near Ramallah and torched several buildings and cars, according to Palestinian officials and Israeli rights group Yesh Din. . One Palestinian man (Jihad Abu Aliyah) was killed and at least 25 others were injured in the clashes, village chief Amin Abu Aliyah said.
Binyamin's death and the possibility of further Israeli retaliation could escalate violence in the West Bank, where about 500,000 Israeli settlers live alongside about 2.7 million Palestinians. More than 400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces across the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the October 7 Hamas-led offensive triggered Israel's Gaza operation, according to the United Nations.
The Israeli military announced on Saturday that it would strengthen its forces in the West Bank with additional companies and police.
Israeli security officials and Palestinian witnesses said there were renewed attacks by Israeli insurgents on Saturday in both al-Mughair and the nearby Palestinian village of Douma. There were reports that Israeli settlers, some of whom were armed, entered the village and opened fire, the official added.
In Douma, the attackers “covered the entire village”, some of them armed, said village resident Nasser Dawabsheh. They set several buildings and cars on fire, and thick smoke spread overhead, he added. Israeli soldiers “did not disperse the settlers, they protected them and fired tear gas at anyone who approached them,” he said.
At least three Palestinians were injured, one seriously, in Saturday's clashes in al-Mughayyir, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
“There is no order, there is no safety,” said Naasan Naasan, 28, a resident of Al Mughair. “They are firing at us. Why is there no one to protect us?”
Veteran Israeli photojournalist Shaul Golan, 74, also said in an interview that after he tried to take photos in al-Mughair, Israeli settlers grabbed him, beat him, and then destroyed his equipment. Ta. Some of them were wearing masks and others were wearing Israeli military uniforms, he added.
“I begged the soldiers there to help me and save me,” Golan said. “But then I realized that they weren't actually soldiers, they were working with them.”
The Biden administration has said Israel needs to do more to crack down on violence by extremist Israeli settlers and has imposed sanctions on several people linked to attacks on Palestinians. Israeli leaders denounced the move as interference in internal affairs.
As Israeli troops and police were searching Binyamin on Friday afternoon, armed Israeli settlers burst into al-Mughair and set fire to buildings and cars, Abu Aliyah said. In a video distributed by Yesh Din, smoke can be seen rising from several burning cars and buildings.
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Binyamin's “heinous murder” and vowed that Israel would “close the accounts” of his killer. He did not explicitly mention the settler rampage, instead calling on Israelis to “allow the security forces to carry out their duties unimpeded” as they investigate the killings.
Israel's parliamentary opposition leader Yair Lapid similarly condemned the teenager's killing. But he also condemned settler attacks, saying “violent riots by settlers are a dangerous violation of the law and are hampering our forces on the ground.”
The Israeli military confirmed that several “violent riots” had occurred in the area during search operations on Friday. The Israeli military said at one point “stones were hurled” at Israeli soldiers, who fired shots in response. The military said Israeli police and soldiers also removed Israeli settlers who had entered al-Mughair.
Naasan said Israeli soldiers were in the area “before the settlers arrived” but did not prevent the settlers from entering the village and setting fire to buildings and cars. It is not immediately clear how Jihad Abu Aliyah, a resident of the village, was killed.
Human rights groups have long accused Israeli authorities of not doing enough to prevent violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers, and that perpetrators are rarely arrested. An Israeli police spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on whether any Israelis were arrested in the incident.
Last February, an attack by Israeli settlers devastated the Palestinian town of Huwara in the northern West Bank. At least one Palestinian was killed and 390 injured in the violence, Palestinian officials said. In the riot, Israelis burned numerous buildings and cars, and terrified Palestinians fled their burning homes.
