No terrorist will escape us, says Israeli leader after West Bank raids
Israeli forces have arrested two suspects over the killing of a guard at a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli army said the guard was on duty at the entrance to the Ariel settlement on Friday night when attackers opened fire, fatally wounding him.
He was later identified as Vyacheslav Golev, 23.
“After intense intelligence and operational activity by the [domestic security agency] Shin Bet, police special forces and the army, two suspects were arrested this evening,” police said after a day-long manhunt on Saturday.
The attack was claimed by Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, one of the main Palestinian militant groups active in the Israeli-occupied territory.
The armed pair were arrested in the Palestinian village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, northwest of Ariel, the army said. “No terrorist will escape us,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said after news of the suspects’ capture.
The army said it had stepped up its presence in the West Bank, with the security forces making arrests and seizing weapons in Bruqin, west of Ariel, and in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said a Palestinian was shot dead on Friday in an Israeli army operation in the northern West Bank town of Azzun, about 20 kilometres from Ariel.
Palestinian news agency Wafa identified the man as Yahya Adwan, 27.
Palestinians and Israeli soldiers clashed after Adwan’s funeral on Saturday and the Red Crescent said three Palestinians were hit in the legs by live fire.
The Israeli army said “dozens of Palestinians instigated a violent riot adjacent to the town of Azzun” and attacked soldiers, “who responded with riot dispersal means and live fire”.
The killing of the Palestinian youth and the Israeli guard brought a deadly conclusion to a Friday marked by violence at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al Aqsa Mosque compound, a site also considered sacred by Jews.
At least 42 people were injured on Friday alone, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, raising the number of Palestinians wounded at the site to nearly 300 over a two-week period. On Saturday, the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, gave a warning of attacks on synagogues and a “great battle” if Israeli forces carried out more raids at Al Aqsa Mosque.
“Whoever takes the decision to repeat this scene [of sending Israeli forces inside the mosque] will be taking the decision to destroy thousands of synagogues across the world,” said the group’s chief, Yahya Sinwar, in statements carried by AFP.
The violence in occupied East Jerusalem has raised fears of another armed conflict like the 11day war last year between Israel and Hamas, triggered in part by similar unrest at the flashpoint Al Aqsa site.