Israel is to build hundreds of new homes in a settlement in the occupied West Bank where a Palestinian stabbed three Israelis, one fatally, Israeli Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman said on Friday.
The announcement came as two Palestinians, including a child, were shot in the head by Israeli soldiers in separate incidents in the southern Gaza Strip, the territory’s Ministry of Health said.
“The best answer to terrorism is the expansion of settlements,” Lieberman said on Twitter, announcing 400 new housing units in the Adam settlement north of Jerusalem a day after the stabbing.
Photo: EPA
Israel rejects the widely held view that settlement expansion is one of the greatest obstacles to peace with the Palestinians, while attacks against Israelis in the West Bank are supported by many Palestinians as pushing back against settlement growth.
The teenage assailant sneaked into Adam on Thursday evening by climbing a fence, Israeli media reported.
He stabbed three people seemingly at random before being shot dead, the army said, naming the dead Israeli as Yotam Ovadia, 31.
The attacker was later identified by official Palestinian media as Mohammed Dar Youssef, 17, from the village of Kobar.
The Israeli army on Friday said it had raided the village, questioned a number of his family members and suspended their work permits.
During the raid, clashes broke out between young Palestinians and soldiers fired tear gas.
The clashes were over by mid-morning, a photographer said.
Palestinian news agency Wafa said three people were arrested.
The army said it was “reinforcing the defense” of Adam and other settlements.
US Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt called on Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas to condemn the attack.
“Yet another barbaric attack tonight. When will President Abbas and Palestinian leaders condemn the violence?” he said on Twitter.
There was no response from Abbas’ government, which has cut ties with the US over the administration’s stance on Israel.
All Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank is considered illegal by the international community.
One of the Palestinians shot dead on Friday was 12-year-old Majde al Satari, hit during border confrontations east of Rafah, the health ministry reported.
Earlier, the ministry also reported the killing of Ghazi Abu Mustafa, 43, and said he was shot near the frontier fence, east of Khan Yunis.
The Israeli military did not comment directly on the deaths, but said that about 7,000 Palestinian “rioters” threw rocks and rolled burning tires at soldiers and the fence at several locations along the border.
“Troops are responding with riot dispersal means and firing in accordance with the rules of engagement,” an English-language statement said, without elaborating.
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