Two Israelis and Palestinians killed in West Bank talks in Jordan

HUWARA (PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES) – Two Israelis living in a West Bank settlement were killed in a “Palestinian terrorist attack” on Sunday, officials said, sparking violence with one Palestinian later killed while settlers set houses on fire in revenge stuck.

The latest deaths came amid talks in Jordan over escalating violence in the occupied territories and days after Israeli forces launched their deadliest raid on the West Bank in nearly 20 years, killing 11 Palestinians in of the northern city of Nablus died.

Sunday’s attack on the two settlers took place south of the town, targeting a car on the main road through Huwara town.

A joint statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Minister for National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir confirmed that “two Israeli civilians have been killed in a Palestinian terrorist attack”.

A spokesman for the Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency services told AFP news agency that two of the wounded were taken to hospital but were later pronounced dead.

The Israeli military said soldiers were “pursuing the terrorists and blocking the area” after the shooting, which has not yet been claimed by any group.

A spokeswoman for the Shomron Regional Council, which administers the Israeli settlements in the northern part of the Palestinian Territories, named those killed as Yagel Yaniv, 20, and his 22-year-old brother Hallel Yaniv.

They were residents of Har Bracha, a religious Jewish settlement near Nablus, the community said in a statement.

Late Sunday, Israeli media reported clashes between Palestinians and settlers seeking revenge near Huwara, while Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that settlers in villages near Nablus “set fire to several Palestinian houses.”

A 37-year-old Palestinian man named Sameh Aqtash was shot dead in the village of Zaatara near Nablus, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

The Israeli army did not immediately comment, but said it had evacuated dozens of Palestinians from their homes threatened by fire in Huwara.

The Palestinian Red Cross said 98 people were treated, most after inhaling tear gas, while Israeli emergency services reported three Israelis injured after being hit by stones.

Netanyahu called for calm in a video released by his office.

“I ask – even if the blood boils – not to take the law into your hands,” said Netanyahu, demanding that the security forces “be allowed to do their job”.

Meanwhile, the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of “protecting acts of terrorism committed by settlers” in the West Bank.

About 2.9 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, as well as an estimated 475,000 Jewish settlers who live in state-sanctioned settlements that are illegal under international law.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War.

– Jordan speaks –

The violence came as Israeli-Palestinian talks took place in Jordan aimed at quelling a surge in violence in the West Bank.

After the killings, Orit Strock, a settler and government minister, called for the “immediate return of the Israeli delegation” from the meeting in the Red Sea resort of Aqaba.

At the talks, “after thorough and frank discussions,” Israel and the Palestinians pledged in a joint statement to work to prevent new violence.

Both sides “reaffirmed the need to commit to de-escalation on the ground and prevent further violence,” the statement said.

The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad announced Sunday’s shooting in Huwara as a “heroic operation”.

“It sends a strong message to the Aqaba Summit that our (Palestinian) Resistance present,” said Islamic Jihad, which had joined Hamas and other militant groups to oppose the talks in Jordan.

Since the beginning of this year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of 63 Palestinian adults and children, including militants and civilians.

Eleven Israeli civilians, including three children, a police officer and a Ukrainian civilian, were killed during the same period, according to official sources from both sides.

The violence follows the deadliest year for West Bank Palestinians since at least 2005, which has been going on since Netanyahu returned to power in December.

He leads an alliance with ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties and has vowed to continue Israeli settlement expansion in the Palestinian territories.

Netanyahu handed his ally Ben-Gvir crucial powers in the West Bank, despite the hardliner’s history of incendiary statements about the Palestinians.