WAR ON GAZA
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Ex-aide of Israel far-right MP arrested over Palestinian's murder
The occupied West Bank has seen an increase in settler violence against Palestinian communities and regular military raids by Israeli forces under the country's far-right government.
Ex-aide of Israel far-right MP arrested over Palestinian's murder
Mourners carry the body of 19-year-old Palestinian Qusai Jamal Maatan, during his funeral in the village of Burqa in the north of the occupied West Bank. / Photo: AFP / AFP

A former aide of a lawmaker from Israel's far-right governing coalition was among two settlers arrested Saturday over the killing of a 19-year-old Palestinian in the occupied West Bank, Israeli media has reported.

Qusai Jamal Maatan was shot dead in Burqah, east of Ramallah, on Friday as armed settlers clashed with villagers.

The UN has warned of a dramatic spike in Jewish settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied territories since the most far-wing government in Israel's history took power at the end of last year.

Israeli media reported that the main suspect in the deadly shooting had sustained injuries in the clashes and been admitted to hospital.

The second suspect had acted as spokesman to a member of parliament from the far-right Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit) party, whose leader Itamar Ben-Gvir is public security minister in the coalition government, the reports said.

Police said a remand hearing was to be held in Jerusalem later Saturday to extend the custody of the two suspects.

Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al Sheikh called on the international community to blacklist Jewish Power as a terrorist organisation in a post on Twitter, rebranded X.

"Yesterday, a member of his (Ben-Gvir's) party shot dead a Palestinian citizen in the village of Burqah. It should be included in international terrorism blacklists," Sheikh said, noting the party leader's own history of inflammatory remarks against Palestinians.

Ben-Gvir was charged more than 50 times in his youth with incitement to violence or hate speech and was convicted in 2007 of supporting a terrorist group and inciting racism.

At Saturday's funeral, Palestinian mourners carried Maatan's body through the streets wrapped in a black and white keffiyeh and a Palestinian flag, an AFP journalist reported.

In a statement released late Friday, Palestinian armed group Hamas, which governs Gaza, called for revenge for Maatan's murder at the hands of a "settler gang".

Following the killing of Maatan, a shooting in Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv critically wounded a man on Saturday, authorities said, with police reporting the suspected assailant was shot by an armed municipal officer.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Violence this year linked to the occupation has killed at least 207 Palestinians, 27 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources on both sides.

Settler violence

In a statement on Friday's shooting, the Israeli army cited Palestinian reports and witnesses as saying that both Palestinians and Jewish settlers had thrown stones at each other before the Israeli civilians had opened fire in the occupied Palestinian territory.

"As a result of the confrontation, a Palestinian was killed, four others were injured, and a Palestinian vehicle was found burned. Several Israeli civilians were injured from rocks hurled at them," it said on Saturday, adding security forces arrived after the shooting.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Arab-Israeli War in 1967.

Excluding occupied east Jerusalem, the territory is home to nearly three million Palestinians and around 490,000 Israelis who live in settlements considered illegal under international law.

The last major case of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians occurred in June.

Attacks on the occupied West Bank village of Turmus Aya and others followed the killing of four Israelis by Palestinian gunmen, which Hamas said was in response to an Israeli army raid on Jenin refugee camp which killed six Palestinians.

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA on Friday said it had recorded 591 Jewish settler-related "incidents" in the occupied West Bank in the first six months of 2023 resulting in Palestinian casualties, property damage, or both.

"That's an average of 99 incidents every month, and a 39-percent-increase compared with the monthly average of the whole of 2022, which is 71," spokesman Jens Laerke said.

SOURCE:AFP