This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/world/middleeast/israel-west-bank-shooting.html
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| West Bank Shootings Raise Fear That Hamas Is Expanding Its Fight | West Bank Shootings Raise Fear That Hamas Is Expanding Its Fight |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| JERUSALEM — Two Israeli soldiers were killed near Ramallah late Thursday morning in the area’s second deadly shooting in less than a week, prompting the military to seal off the Palestinian city and raising fears that the West Bank could be entering a new phase of violence. | JERUSALEM — Two Israeli soldiers were killed near Ramallah late Thursday morning in the area’s second deadly shooting in less than a week, prompting the military to seal off the Palestinian city and raising fears that the West Bank could be entering a new phase of violence. |
| The broad-daylight shooting came on top of news that Israeli security forces had found and killed two Palestinian fugitives in the West Bank overnight. The two men were suspected of carrying out a pair of brutal attacks — one in October that left two Israelis dead at a West Bank factory, the other a drive-by shooting on Sunday that killed a three-day-old baby. | The broad-daylight shooting came on top of news that Israeli security forces had found and killed two Palestinian fugitives in the West Bank overnight. The two men were suspected of carrying out a pair of brutal attacks — one in October that left two Israelis dead at a West Bank factory, the other a drive-by shooting on Sunday that killed a three-day-old baby. |
| Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza and has been seeking to foment violence on the West Bank, praised Thursday’s shooting and said that the two slain fugitives had been members of its military wing, though Hamas leaders did not specifically claim responsibility for the attacks. | Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza and has been seeking to foment violence on the West Bank, praised Thursday’s shooting and said that the two slain fugitives had been members of its military wing, though Hamas leaders did not specifically claim responsibility for the attacks. |
| Israeli analysts, who attributed all three attacks to Hamas, said the group was trying to prove its relevance and signal that it remained a political force on the West Bank. The attacks created political trouble for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who recently took on the additional portfolio of defense minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president. | Israeli analysts, who attributed all three attacks to Hamas, said the group was trying to prove its relevance and signal that it remained a political force on the West Bank. The attacks created political trouble for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who recently took on the additional portfolio of defense minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president. |
| Hamas, which celebrates its 31st anniversary on Friday, also wanted to shift the locus of Israeli-Palestinian friction away from the Gaza Strip, giving its residents a break after months of protests in which scores have been killed and thousands wounded. | Hamas, which celebrates its 31st anniversary on Friday, also wanted to shift the locus of Israeli-Palestinian friction away from the Gaza Strip, giving its residents a break after months of protests in which scores have been killed and thousands wounded. |
| “They want to show that they’re relevant, present and ready, and are gearing up for the day after Abbas,” said Shimrit Meir, an Israeli expert on Palestinian politics. Violence at Christmastime, a peak tourist season, also serves Hamas by garnering attention, she said. | “They want to show that they’re relevant, present and ready, and are gearing up for the day after Abbas,” said Shimrit Meir, an Israeli expert on Palestinian politics. Violence at Christmastime, a peak tourist season, also serves Hamas by garnering attention, she said. |
| The Israeli army said it was deploying several additional battalions to the West Bank to defend against copycat attacks or other further violence. | The Israeli army said it was deploying several additional battalions to the West Bank to defend against copycat attacks or other further violence. |
| By nightfall, threats to the calm that has generally prevailed on the West Bank for more than a year appeared to be cropping up by the hour. A Jenin man drove his car into a cluster of Israeli soldiers in Al Bireh, also near Ramallah, lightly wounding one of them before he was shot and killed, the army said. Soldiers also cordoned off Al Bireh and shut down a major intersection south of Nablus. | By nightfall, threats to the calm that has generally prevailed on the West Bank for more than a year appeared to be cropping up by the hour. A Jenin man drove his car into a cluster of Israeli soldiers in Al Bireh, also near Ramallah, lightly wounding one of them before he was shot and killed, the army said. Soldiers also cordoned off Al Bireh and shut down a major intersection south of Nablus. |
| And groups of angry Jewish settlers demonstrated along Highway 60, the main north-south artery through the West Bank, in some places smashing the windows of Palestinians’ cars, in others holding banners saying “Death to Abu Mazen,” the nickname for Mr. Abbas. | And groups of angry Jewish settlers demonstrated along Highway 60, the main north-south artery through the West Bank, in some places smashing the windows of Palestinians’ cars, in others holding banners saying “Death to Abu Mazen,” the nickname for Mr. Abbas. |
| Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, tweeted that Israeli forces had “raided villages and towns, and detained dozens.” | Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, tweeted that Israeli forces had “raided villages and towns, and detained dozens.” |
| “Israeli settlers are on the rampage, protected by the Israeli army,” she wrote. “This reign of terror has compounded the pressure cooker effect.” | “Israeli settlers are on the rampage, protected by the Israeli army,” she wrote. “This reign of terror has compounded the pressure cooker effect.” |
| The violence on the West Bank also poses a serious new political threat to Mr. Netanyahu. Already weakened by corruption investigations and by a two-day battle with the Gaza Strip in which hundreds of rockets rained down on Israeli cities and towns, Mr. Netanyahu no longer has another minister to blame for attacks on Israeli civilians. | The violence on the West Bank also poses a serious new political threat to Mr. Netanyahu. Already weakened by corruption investigations and by a two-day battle with the Gaza Strip in which hundreds of rockets rained down on Israeli cities and towns, Mr. Netanyahu no longer has another minister to blame for attacks on Israeli civilians. |
| “We will settle accounts with whoever did this,” he said of Thursday’s attack at a military ceremony in Tel Aviv. “Our guiding principle is that whoever attacks us, and whoever tries to attack us, will pay with his life. Our enemies know this and we will find them.” | “We will settle accounts with whoever did this,” he said of Thursday’s attack at a military ceremony in Tel Aviv. “Our guiding principle is that whoever attacks us, and whoever tries to attack us, will pay with his life. Our enemies know this and we will find them.” |
| But while Mr. Netanyahu has kept a laserlike focus on Iran, which he sees as the main existential threat to Israel, his critics say his government has paid too little attention to sporadic attacks on the West Bank, where 13 Israelis have now been killed this year — 13 more than on Israel’s northern borders and 12 more than along the Gaza fence. | But while Mr. Netanyahu has kept a laserlike focus on Iran, which he sees as the main existential threat to Israel, his critics say his government has paid too little attention to sporadic attacks on the West Bank, where 13 Israelis have now been killed this year — 13 more than on Israel’s northern borders and 12 more than along the Gaza fence. |
| Moreover, right-wing West Bank settlers form the ideological core of Mr. Netanyahu’s political base, and they vented their frustrations with him after Thursday’s shooting. | Moreover, right-wing West Bank settlers form the ideological core of Mr. Netanyahu’s political base, and they vented their frustrations with him after Thursday’s shooting. |
| A settler member of Parliament, Bezalel Smotrich of the Jewish Home party, urged his followers to close Highway 60 to “Arab vehicles,” and circulated a poster demanding that Mr. Netanyahu do so officially. “If you don’t succeed, we’ll do it!” it said. | A settler member of Parliament, Bezalel Smotrich of the Jewish Home party, urged his followers to close Highway 60 to “Arab vehicles,” and circulated a poster demanding that Mr. Netanyahu do so officially. “If you don’t succeed, we’ll do it!” it said. |
| The opposition leader, Tzipi Livni of the left-of-center Zionist Union, accused Mr. Netanyahu of having “lost control of security.” | The opposition leader, Tzipi Livni of the left-of-center Zionist Union, accused Mr. Netanyahu of having “lost control of security.” |
| Alluding to the decision to allow the shipment of $15 million in Qatari cash into Gaza each month to subsidize the salaries of Hamas civil servants, she said in a radio interview that his government’s message to terrorist groups like Hamas was: “If you attack us, you will get money.” | Alluding to the decision to allow the shipment of $15 million in Qatari cash into Gaza each month to subsidize the salaries of Hamas civil servants, she said in a radio interview that his government’s message to terrorist groups like Hamas was: “If you attack us, you will get money.” |
| Thursday evening, as right-wing activists gathered for a protest outside his home in Jerusalem, Mr. Netanyahu published a litany of retaliatory measures that he said would be taken in response to the attack, including the legalization of thousands of housing units in West Bank settlements, accelerating the establishment of two new Israeli industrial parks on the West Bank, and permitting the construction of 82 new homes in the Ofra settlement. | Thursday evening, as right-wing activists gathered for a protest outside his home in Jerusalem, Mr. Netanyahu published a litany of retaliatory measures that he said would be taken in response to the attack, including the legalization of thousands of housing units in West Bank settlements, accelerating the establishment of two new Israeli industrial parks on the West Bank, and permitting the construction of 82 new homes in the Ofra settlement. |
| The attacks were also a problem for Mr. Abbas, a bitter Hamas rival. By prompting the Israeli military to operate repeatedly this week near his Ramallah headquarters, Hamas embarrassed him and his security forces, which continue to cooperate with Israel, in the eyes of Palestinians on the West Bank. | The attacks were also a problem for Mr. Abbas, a bitter Hamas rival. By prompting the Israeli military to operate repeatedly this week near his Ramallah headquarters, Hamas embarrassed him and his security forces, which continue to cooperate with Israel, in the eyes of Palestinians on the West Bank. |
| It seemed a distant memory by nighttime, but Thursday had begun with news that relieved many Israelis: Sometime after midnight, a two-month manhunt for Ashraf Naalowa, 23, who was wanted for the Oct. 7 killing of two Israeli co-workers at a factory in the Barkan industrial park, ended in the Askar refugee camp outside Nablus when he was killed in a brief shootout with Israeli forces. | It seemed a distant memory by nighttime, but Thursday had begun with news that relieved many Israelis: Sometime after midnight, a two-month manhunt for Ashraf Naalowa, 23, who was wanted for the Oct. 7 killing of two Israeli co-workers at a factory in the Barkan industrial park, ended in the Askar refugee camp outside Nablus when he was killed in a brief shootout with Israeli forces. |
| A second manhunt ended with a similar result a few hours earlier. On Sunday, a drive-by shooting along Highway 60 near the Jewish settlement of Ofra had wounded seven Israelis, including Shira Ish-Ran, 21, who was seven months pregnant. Doctors delivered Ms. Ish-Ran’s baby boy, but he died Wednesday evening as a result of her wounds, and was first named, and then buried, shortly afterward. | A second manhunt ended with a similar result a few hours earlier. On Sunday, a drive-by shooting along Highway 60 near the Jewish settlement of Ofra had wounded seven Israelis, including Shira Ish-Ran, 21, who was seven months pregnant. Doctors delivered Ms. Ish-Ran’s baby boy, but he died Wednesday evening as a result of her wounds, and was first named, and then buried, shortly afterward. |
| Later on Wednesday night, security forces found one of the suspects, Saleh Omar Barghouti, 29, in Surda, north of Ramallah, and tried to arrest him. When he tried to flee in a taxi, the police said, the Israelis opened fire on the vehicle, killing Mr. Barghouti and wounding another passenger. | Later on Wednesday night, security forces found one of the suspects, Saleh Omar Barghouti, 29, in Surda, north of Ramallah, and tried to arrest him. When he tried to flee in a taxi, the police said, the Israelis opened fire on the vehicle, killing Mr. Barghouti and wounding another passenger. |
| Adding to the violence overnight, a Palestinian man was shot and killed by the border police in the Old City of Jerusalem around 5 a.m. Thursday after he attacked a civilian man and then stabbed two border police officers. | Adding to the violence overnight, a Palestinian man was shot and killed by the border police in the Old City of Jerusalem around 5 a.m. Thursday after he attacked a civilian man and then stabbed two border police officers. |
| Israelis who had been shocked by the Barkan murders, dejected by the long wait to apprehend the perpetrator and horrified by the killing of Ms. Ish-Ran’s baby, seemed to exhale upon learning of the work of the security forces overnight. | Israelis who had been shocked by the Barkan murders, dejected by the long wait to apprehend the perpetrator and horrified by the killing of Ms. Ish-Ran’s baby, seemed to exhale upon learning of the work of the security forces overnight. |
| “The world is brighter this morning,” Haggai Segal, the editor of the right-wing weekly newspaper Makor Rishon, wrote on Twitter. | “The world is brighter this morning,” Haggai Segal, the editor of the right-wing weekly newspaper Makor Rishon, wrote on Twitter. |
| Less than four hours later, though, the two soldiers were killed a short distance from the site of the attack of Sunday. At the Asaf junction just off Highway 60, a man emerged from a car around 11 a.m. and started shooting at soldiers and civilians waiting at a bus stop. He then jumped back into the car, which was driven by someone else, and fled into Ramallah, the Israeli military said. | |
| Alex Fishman, the military analyst for Yediot Ahronot, a leading Israeli daily, said Thursday’s attacker was believed to be part of the same cell as Mr. Barghouti. | Alex Fishman, the military analyst for Yediot Ahronot, a leading Israeli daily, said Thursday’s attacker was believed to be part of the same cell as Mr. Barghouti. |
| But Mr. Fishman said he was less concerned that the attacker remained at large, and more about the possibility that retaliatory attacks or other provocative responses by right-wing Israelis could incite large numbers of West Bank Palestinians. | But Mr. Fishman said he was less concerned that the attacker remained at large, and more about the possibility that retaliatory attacks or other provocative responses by right-wing Israelis could incite large numbers of West Bank Palestinians. |
| “If there will be riots against Arabs, if there will be riots on the Temple Mount, if there will be events somewhere with the Jewish settlements that can inflame the majority of Palestinians, this is the problem,” he said. “I will be much more worried when I see the first huge demonstration from Ramallah to Jerusalem.” | “If there will be riots against Arabs, if there will be riots on the Temple Mount, if there will be events somewhere with the Jewish settlements that can inflame the majority of Palestinians, this is the problem,” he said. “I will be much more worried when I see the first huge demonstration from Ramallah to Jerusalem.” |