Four Palestinians and one Israeli were killed in a shooting incident in the occupied West Bank on Friday, according to Israeli and Palestinian health officials.
Palestinian officials said Palestinians from the West Bank town of Tal, southwest of the Palestinian city of Nablus, had been attacked by the Israeli civilians and that four had been shot dead and four wounded by both Israeli civilians and Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli military said it had been dispatched to the area after reports of an attack on Israeli civilians who were hiking there. The military said a Palestinian had stolen a weapon from local security personnel and fired at the Israeli civilians.
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Essam Saifi, a local leader in the Palestinian Fatah party from Tal, told Reuters in a phone call that about 25 to 30 Jewish settlers initially attacked the eastern area of Tal and tried to break into two houses there. The residents came out to confront them and the settlers opened fire, Saifi said.
Half an hour later, Saifi said, the Israelis returned and attacked the western part of the town, striking a minor with a weapon. This caused chaos and then the Israeli military arrived and started shooting, along with the settlers, Saifi told Reuters.
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A temporary closure was imposed on the city of Nablus and the Tal area, while Israeli troops set up roadblocks and pursued the assailants, the military said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was convening an emergency meeting to discuss a response, his office said in a statement.
Violence in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, has surged since the start of the war in Gaza.
Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank alongside around three million Palestinians.
All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.
According to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,094 Palestinians, including both militants and civilians, since the start of the Gaza war.
Official Israeli figures show at least 47 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations over the same period.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)
