Two Palestinians Killed, Israeli Stabbed in West Bank

Two Palestinians were killed and an Israeli man was stabbed in two separate incidents across the West Bank on Monday, one day after Reuters reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered some illegal settler outposts dismantled under pressure from Washington.

In the northern village of Hajja, near Qalqilya, residents said Israeli troops and armed settlers opened fire on villagers who had come out to confront a settler raid. A 19-year-old Palestinian was killed and three others wounded, residents told Reuters. The Israeli military said soldiers responded to a report that Israelis had entered the village and fired "toward key instigators" after Palestinians threw stones.

In a separate incident near the village of Qusra, the Israeli military and medics said a Palestinian entered a settler outpost and stabbed a 20-year-old Israeli. The military said troops set up roadblocks, found the man near a village to the west, and that a military commander shot and killed him after he tried to stab soldiers. The Palestinian Authority health ministry confirmed the death of a 34-year-old without giving details.

What Each Side Says

The two accounts of the Hajja killing do not match. Residents describe being trapped between soldiers on one side and roughly nine armed settlers on the other, with both groups firing. The Israeli military describes an arrest operation that escalated after stone-throwing, including warning shots into the air followed by fire at "key instigators," adding that "hits were identified."

On the stabbing, the Times of Israel reported the attack happened at the Maoz Yehuda farming outpost and described the wounded Israeli, around 20 years old, as in moderate-to-serious condition. Reuters reported he was critically wounded. The Jerusalem Post, citing the Hatzalah emergency service, reported the attacker arrived by car at Usarin, asked the victim whether he was armed, attacked him and then fled.