BAYTIN (AFP) – A funeral was expected for a man Palestinian officials say was killed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, where the murder of an Israeli teenager sparked a wave of violence.
After Benjamin Achimeir, a 14-year-old Israeli, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching cars and homes, and left at least two villagers dead and dozens wounded.
The attacks escalated in multiple villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachei Hashalom settlement outpost.
The mayor of nearby Palestinian village Al-Mughayyir, Amin Abu Alyah, told AFP that “dozens of settlers” had attacked it and burnt “everything they find in front of them. They burnt a house, a bulldozer and a number of vehicles”.
One Palestinian, Jihad Abu Alia, was killed in the violence, with his funeral held on Saturday, while 25 were wounded, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Mustafa condemned the attacks and urged the authorities to help the people of Al-Mughayyir.
The violence spread to other parts of the West Bank, with Suleiman Dawabsha, the mayor of Duma near Nablus, telling AFP that Israeli troops and settlers had set fire to more than 15 houses and 10 farms in his village.
