Israeli forces kill two Palestinians in occupied West Bank as tensions soar

The Israeli military has shot and killed two Palestinians, authorities said, the latest incident in a wave of deadly violence gripping the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the two men killed in the village of Deir al Hatab as Saud Abdullah Saud and Mohammed Abu Dira.

The Israeli military claimed that the men shot at an Israeli outpost near the settlement of Elon Moreh, south of the Palestinian city of Nablus. 

Palestinian media reported that a third man was in the car during the incident and fled the area. Israeli security forces also said they were searching for other suspects and found a pair of M-16 rifles and a pistol at the scene.

One of the victims, Saud, had previously spent 15 years in an Israeli prison, according to a local armed group of the Balata refugee camp. 

Tuesday’s deaths followed a week of unusually heightened violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank, sparked by Israeli police raids on the Al Aqsa mosque.

READ MORE: Israel troops storm Al Aqsa Mosque for second night targeting Palestinians

Heightened violence

Last week, Israeli planes struck southern Lebanon and besieged Gaza in response to rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave 

Hamas Radio reported that the Israeli strikes hit several targets within Gaza and in a refugee camp. There were no immediate reports of casualties in Gaza.

The air strikes come after Israeli troops stormed Islam’s third holiest site in occupied East Jerusalem, using gas bombs and sound grenades while Palestinians pray on the second week of Ramadan.

Witnesses and Palestinian Red Crescent also reported that Israeli troops have beaten up worshipers, leaving many wounded, raising fears of wider tensions. 

So far this year, 94 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank, while 19 Israelis have been killed, according to a tally by The Associated Press.

Netanyahu’s moves

With tensions high, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday reversed his decision to fire his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who expressed opposition to the government’s divisive plans to weaken the judiciary last month. 

Gallant praised the Israeli military’s killing of the Palestinians on Tuesday.

In a step toward deescalating the situation, Netanyahu’s office said on Tuesday that authorities would bar Jewish visits to Al Aqsa, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, for the remainder of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. 

Jews are permitted to visit the compound, but not pray there, under longstanding agreements. However, the convergence of the Jewish Passover festival and Ramadan brought scores of religious Jews to the site last week and fuelled tensions.

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