At a farm in West Bank, an Israeli civilian kills a Palestinian: army
The military reported that an Israeli civilian fatally shot a Palestinian Saturday at a settler farm in the occupied West Bank following an attempted stabbing. This was the latest incident in a pattern of increasing violence in the area.
It stated that during the “attempted stabbing attack” at Sde Efraim farm, northwest of Ramallah, an assailant attempted to stab an Israeli civilian.
The army added, “The terrorist was neutralized,” confirming to AFP that a civilian shot the Palestinian to death.
According to the army statement, no other people were hurt in the incident.
A photographer for the AFP witnessed Israeli forces preventing a Palestinian ambulance from reaching the location.
Tariq Maali, 42, was killed, according to the Palestinian health ministry, “after the occupation (Israel) opened fire on him” near the Palestinian village of Kafr Nama.
The farm is referred to by the Israeli anti-settlement organization Peace Now as a “wildcat settlement,” or an outpost that Israel does not recognize.
Israel disputes the fact that international law declares all settlements illegal.
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties in his coalition support the annexation of some of the West Bank, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to pursue a policy of increased settlement expansion there.
An AFP count that includes both militants and civilians indicates that the shooting brings the total number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank thus far this month to 18 individuals.
Fears of a military escalation in the Palestinian territory Israel has occupied since the 1967 Six-Day War have been stoked by the inauguration in December of the most right-wing government in Israel’s history, led by Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli forces shot the majority of the 18 Palestinians killed this year.
This month’s violence adds to the number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank last year, which was the highest annual total since the United Nations began keeping records in 2005.
According to AFP figures, in Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2022, at least 26 Israelis and 200 Palestinians were killed.
The circumstances of the most recent incident, which occurred nearly two years after a guard fatally shot another Palestinian man at the same location, were not further explained by the Palestinian health ministry.
In that case, which occurred in February 2021, the Israeli army claimed that the man attempted to break into a house that a Palestinian official claimed was constructed on his land.
