The disappearance and death of the young Israeli Benjamin Achimeir, 14 years old, has unleashed a wave of violence by Israeli settlers against several West Bank towns that have so far left one Palestinian dead and at least 40 injured, while the Israeli Army has reported that he had been murdered in a terrorist attack and began an operation to arrest the perpetrators of the crime.
Achimeir, a native of Jerusalem, went out to herd on Friday morning from a farm near the Malachei Ha’Shalom area and was reported missing in the middle of the afternoon.
By then, Israeli settlers attacked the West Bank towns of Al Mughayir and Abu Falá, in two raids that left a Palestinian shot dead and another 30 injured, including a dozen by gunfire, and this same Saturday the attacks continued. assaults there, which so far leave six people shot and wounded, one of them in critical condition.
The search for the minor yesterday triggered clashes between armed settlers, protected by Israeli soldiers, which left a 25-year-old Palestinian dead from a gunshot wound and at least 25 injured in the village of Al Mughayir, northeast of Ramallah and very close to the outpost.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conveyed his condolences to the family for what he called a “heinous murder,” according to a statement released by his office: “We will catch the killers and those who helped them, as we do with anyone who harms the citizens of the State of Israel,” the text added.
The clashes, led by armed settler militias, continue this Saturday, and according to the Palestinian agency Wafa, at least six Palestinians have been injured in Al Mughayyir, one in serious condition after having been shot in the head. The other five have wounds on their legs.
Settlers also fired on the funeral procession of Jihad Afif Abu Alia, the Palestinian killed yesterday during altercations in a deadly attack that is unclear whether it was carried out by Israeli soldiers or radical militias.
In addition, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has recorded more than 700 violent incidents in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in that time, equivalent to four attacks a day.
