Jerusalem, Nov 18: An Israeli was killed and three were wounded in an attack Tuesday at an intersection in the West Bank, Israel’s rescue service said, following a spate of settler attacks on Palestinians across the occupied territory.
The violence came a day after the UN Security Council gave its backing to US President Donald Trump’s blueprint to secure and govern Gaza. Hamas rejected the plan.
The Israeli military said the ramming and stabbing attack took place at the busy Gush Etzion junction south of Jerusalem, a site of many past attacks by Palestinian militants.
Israel’s emergency rescue services said a 30-year-old man died of stab wounds. Three others were hospitalised, including a woman in serious condition and a teenager in moderate condition.
It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack or how many assailants participated.
Settler violence has flared in the West Bank. In the latest attack Monday, Israeli settlers rampaged through the Palestinian village of al-Jab’a, torching homes and cars. The violence drew a rare condemnation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top leaders.
Israel’s military sent soldiers and police to the village Monday after reports of fires and vandalism. Hours earlier Monday, clashes erupted between Israeli security forces and settlers defending an unauthorised outpost on a nearby hill facing evacuation and demolition on Monday, according to COGAT, the Israeli military body that deals with civilians in the West Bank.
Israeli police said earlier that six suspects were arrested in confrontations during the demolitions, with dozens of settlers were entrenched and throwing stones and metal bars and burning tires.
Netanyahu and Hamas react to UN vote
Netanyahu on Tuesday applauded the UN approval of Trump’s plan for postwar Gaza.
“We believe that President Trumps plan will lead to peace and prosperity because it insists upon full demilitarization, disarmament and the deradicalization of Gaza,” Netanyahu’s office wrote on X.
The resolution provides a wide mandate for an international force to provide security in war-devastated Gaza, approves a transitional authority called the Board of Peace to be overseen by Trump and envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state.
The plan calls for the stabilisation force to ensure “the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups.” It authorises the force “to use all necessary measures to carry out its mandate” in compliance with international law, which is UN language for the use of military force.
Hamas said Monday that the force’s mandate including disarmament “strips it of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the conflict in favour of the occupation.”
It said the resolution did not “meet the level of our Palestinian people’s political and humanitarian demands and rights.”
Hamas demanded that any international force be under UN supervision, deploy only at Gaza’s borders to monitor the ceasefire and operate exclusively with Palestinian institutions. (AP)
