Dozens of Israeli settlers have attacked a Palestinian West Bank town, sparking a confrontation that ended with Israeli forces killing three Palestinians.
In a separate incident, a 15-year-old boy was killed by the Israeli army in the northern West Bank town of Al-Yamoun, amid a surge of violence and near-daily confrontations between settlers and Palestinians.
Three Palestinians were killed and seven wounded in the violence in Kafr Malik on Wednesday, north-east of Ramallah, the Palestinian health ministry said.
An Israeli military statement said dozens of Israelis set fire to property, and military and police forces were dispatched to the scene after receiving a report of ensuing violence that included an exchange of stone-throwing.
The military statement alleged that several Palestinians opened fire and hurled rocks at the forces, who returned the fire. Five Israeli suspects were arrested. An Israeli army officer was lightly wounded.
Video footage showed at least two cars had been set ablaze. Reuters could not independently verify the video.
Hussein al-Sheikh, the deputy to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, posted on X: “The government of Israel, with its behaviour and decisions, is pushing the region to explode.
“We call on the international community to intervene urgently to protect our Palestinian people,” he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, a Palestinian boy was shot dead by the Israeli army during a raid on Al-Yamoun, a West Bank town west of Jenin, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
The Ramallah-based health ministry said in a statement: “The child Rayan Tamer Houshiyeh was killed after being shot in the neck by soldiers” in Al-Yamoun, north-west of Jenin.
The Al-Yamoun incident marked the second time a teenager has been reported killed in the West Bank in two days.
On Monday, the health ministry said Israeli fire killed a 13-year-old it identified as Ammar Hamayel, also in Kafr Malik.
Earlier this month, the army confirmed it had killed a 14-year-old who threw rocks in the town of Sinjil.
In a similar incident in April, a teenager who held US citizenship was shot dead in the neighbouring town of Turmus Ayya.
The mayor of Turmus Ayya, Adeeb Lafi, said that Omar Mohammad Rabea, 14, was shot along with two other teenagers by an Israeli settler at the entrance to Turmus Ayya. The Israeli military said it had killed a “terrorist” who threw rocks at cars.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and violence in the territory has soared since the Hamas attack on 7 October, 2023 that triggered the Gaza war.
Since then, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 941 Palestinians, including many militants, according to the health ministry.
Over the same period, at least 35 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to Israeli figures.
