RAMALLAH: Palestinians in the occupied West Bank village of Tell on Saturday buried four men killed during a clash with Israeli settlers in the village the previous day, local officials said. "Families of the four martyrs held a common funeral early this morning, around 1:00 am, but the army restricted who could attend and only about 30 people were able to be there," Walid Zidan, head of the Tell village council, said.
About 20 Israelis from a nearby settlement entered the village and clashed with residents of Tell defending their property, Zidan said. A Palestinian villager seized an Israeli's weapon and shot dead one settler, leading an emergency response team from a nearby settlement to rush to the scene and more gunfire that left four Palestinians and a second Israeli dead, the Israeli military said.
Israeli forces closed gates and checkpoints throughout the West Bank, severely obstructing movement, journalists reported. By the time of the funeral, movement was still restricted, and Zidan said that the military was still present in the village Saturday morning, having detained 51 residents for questioning, and released just six.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, but in recent years the number of settlements in the Palestinian territory — which are illegal under international law — has soared. Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, home to around three million Palestinians. Israeli figures show that at least 48 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations since the start of the Gaza war. According to a 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, over the same period. — AFP
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