The Israeli military announced on Friday that it is preparing a large-scale operation in the occupied West Bank after a deadly confrontation near the Palestinian village of Tel, southwest of Nablus, that killed one Israeli and four Palestinians. The army said it had recalled soldiers' leave nationwide and deployed additional forces to the area.
According to the Israeli military, it dispatched troops after reports of an attack on a group of Israeli civilians who were hiking in the area. The military later said the hike, involving dozens of Israelis including children, had not been coordinated with the army and had entered Areas A and B of the West Bank, zones normally off-limits to Israeli civilians, before a violent confrontation broke out with Palestinians near the village.
The Palestinian health ministry said four people were killed and four others wounded, three of them critically, in the confrontation. Palestinian officials said the Palestinians involved had been attacked by the Israeli civilians, and that the four dead had been shot by both Israeli civilians and Israeli soldiers. Israel's Magen David Adom emergency service said an Israeli man in his thirties was pronounced dead near the settlement of Havat Gilad, with two others airlifted with gunshot wounds. The Israeli military said it later located and killed the person it identified as responsible for the Israeli's death.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a security consultation with Defence Minister Israel Katz, army chief Eyal Zamir and Shin Bet head David Zini. "We will act with force against the terrorists and those who dispatched and support them, and we will not allow terrorism in Judea and Samaria to raise its head," Netanyahu said in a statement from his office, adding that he would meet security officials to discuss the details of the response to what he called the "murderous attack."
Sources: AMNA, Reuters, Times of Israel, Arab News
