The Israeli military has launched \u201ccounterterrorism\u201d operations and ordered a curfew in the occupied West Bank following an outbreak of violence in which six people were killed.<\/p>\n
Four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed on Friday as Israeli forces and settlers confronted Palestinians southwest of the city of Nablus.<\/p>\n
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Palestinian sources reported that the violence was sparked as Israeli settlers attacked the town of Tal, which is close to the illegal Israeli settlement of Havat Gilad. Local and security sources said that the settlers opened live fire as Palestinians tried to protect their homes.<\/p>\n
The Israeli army said it had dispatched troops to the area following \u201can attack on Israelis hiking in the area\u201d.<\/p>\n
Four other Palestinians were injured in the attack on the town of Tal, \u201cthree of them critically\u201d, as well as two Israelis, Palestinian health officials said.<\/p>\n
Shortly afterwards, the Israeli military announced it was preparing a major \u201ccounter-terror\u201d operation in the West Bank, and had \u201cmore arrests to carry out\u201d. Troops were then reported to have surrounded Nablus.<\/p>\n
Essam Saifi, a local leader in the Palestinian Fatah party from Tal, told the Reuters news agency \u2060in a phone call that about 25 to 30 Israeli settlers initially attacked the eastern \u2060area of the town and tried to break into \u2060two houses there. The residents came out to confront them, and the settlers opened fire.<\/p>\n
Half an hour later, Saifi said, the Israelis returned \u200cand attacked the western part of the town, striking a child with a weapon. This caused chaos, and the Israeli military \u200carrived and \u200cstarted shooting, along with the settlers, he added.<\/p>\n
The military claimed a Palestinian had stolen a weapon from local security personnel and fired at the Israeli settlers, wounding several Israelis.<\/p>\n
It added that four Palestinians were killed \u201con the spot\u201d, including the one who did the shooting.<\/p>\n
The military later reported that two soldiers were killed close to Tal during \u201coperational activity\u201d.<\/p>\n
Reporting from Nablus, Al Jazeera\u2019s Nida Ibrahim said Friday\u2019s incident took place after Israeli settlers stormed Tal under the \u201cpretext that they were hiking in the area\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven what we\u2019ve been seeing time and again in these attacks, it\u2019s the settlers who are armed, who are provoking Palestinians and stealing their land. Sometimes, we see these settlers pull up in caravans and start putting up temporary tents that later become illegal Israeli settlements,\u201d Ibrahim said.<\/p>\n
After the incident, Israeli forces imposed a security cordon around Nablus and Tal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn these situations, the Israeli army generally prevents the injured Palestinians from accessing medical help by setting up siege-like conditions around the city,\u201d Ibrahim said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what we\u2019re seeing right now, as all checkpoints leading to Tal have been closed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018A renewed image of the ongoing Nakba\u2019<\/p>\n
A total of five Palestinian villages surrounding Nablus were attacked by Israeli settlers on Friday, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.<\/p>\n
Nablus is one of the most violent parts of the West Bank, with Israeli settlers, with the support of security forces, accused of regular attacks and persecution against Palestinians.<\/p>\n
The rate of new settlements and violence has accelerated dramatically since the recent wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran broke out.<\/p>\n
According to the Palestinian health ministry, the killings in Tal bring the toll to 87 Palestinians killed by Israelis across the West Bank since the beginning of the year, including 21 shot by settlers.<\/p>\n
United Nations figures indicate some 850 Palestinians have been wounded in the context of attacks by Israeli settlers since the start of the year.<\/p>\n
The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the latest killings in the \u201cstrongest terms\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ministry affirms that this massacre represents a renewed image of the ongoing Nakba to which our Palestinian people are subjected, and reflects the integration of crimes and roles and the deliberate escalation of these coordinated crimes between the occupation authorities and their forces and settler gangs,\u201d it said in a post on X on Friday.<\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to respond firmly to the Israeli deaths.<\/p>\n