A Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli troops in Huwara on Friday morning after dozens of settlers arrived in the occupied West Bank town, damaged shops and cars and clashed with local residents.
The Israeli military said troops opened fire on 19-year-old Labib Dumaidi after he threw a cinder block at an Israeli car from a building rooftop.
The settlers entered Huwara, south of the city of Nablus, to protest about an incident on Thursday, captured on video, where a local resident shot at an Israeli car. The settlers set up a sukkah – a temporary hut religious Jews put up for the holiday of Sukkot which ends this weekend – and conducted prayers, attended by a far-right Israeli politician.
The main north-south West Bank highway which runs through the Palestinian town is used by both Palestinian and settler drivers, resulting in frequent friction.
In response to Friday’s clashes the Israeli army closed Palestinian shops in Huwara.
The highway was closed for most of Friday as the funeral was held for Mr Dumaidi.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesperson for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, said: “The occupation has crossed every red line in its insistence on perpetuating a policy of killing and raiding the cities, villages and refugee camps.”
After consultations with senior military and intelligence officials, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered the army to step up security efforts in the West Bank, focusing on the Huwara area.
“We should not put up with terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria,” he told officials, using the biblical terms for the West Bank.
Violence has surged across the West Bank over the past year and a half, with a rise in Palestinian shooting attacks against Israeli civilians and troops, raids by the military, and attacks by militant settlers against Palestinians.
The head of the settlers’ council in the northern West Bank, Yossi Dagan, criticised the Netanyahu government.
“The right-wing government has failed time and again to provide Israelis in the centre of the country with security,” he said, demanding that the army erect more checkpoints on West Bank roads used by Palestinian cars.
“This war in the West Bank has been ongoing for several months, with its intensity fluctuating,” noted Yoav Limor, a military commentator for the Yisrael Hayom daily. “However, recent months have been particularly challenging due to a sharp decline in the Palestinian Authority’s ability to govern.”
