Three Palestinians in West Bank attack killed by Israeli troops

Three Palestinians who slightly hurt four Israeli soldiers in the West Bank were shot and killed by troops yesterday as Israel continued to react to six months of almost daily attacks.

In the first incident, two Palestinians armed with home-made guns rammed into a group of Israelis waiting at a hitchhiking stop outside the settlement of Kiryat Arba, near Hebron, and tried to open fire before being shot and killed by troops. Minutes later, a second car was driven by a Palestinian at high speed into soldiers who had arrived at the scene. The troops shot and killed the driver.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

All three Palestinians were from the Hebron area. One had written on his Facebook page “the morning of the knife,” asking for forgiveness and calling for prayer for the the prophet Muhammad. In the past few months, he had frequently quoted verses from the Koran on Facebook and changed his picture to a picture of the Koran.

Chief rabbi

The latest attacks came after Israel’s chief rabbi, Yitzhak Yosef, urged Israelis to kill knife-wielding Palestinians.

“If a terrorist arrives with a knife, it is a mitzvah [a Jewish commandment] to kill him,” he said, going on to quote a Jewish adage: “‘If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.’ Don’t be afraid . . . Let the courts or army chief of staff do what they will afterwards.”

The rabbi’s comments appeared to be a response to a recent statement by Israel’s chief of staff, Lt Gen Gadi Eizenkot, urging soldiers and citizens to use judgment when confronting knife-wielding Palestinians and only shoot to kill in life-threatening situations.

Since October 1st, 193 Palestinians, 30 Israelis, two Americans and two Africans have been killed in a spate of violence. Some two-thirds of the Palestinians were killed while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks.

A poll, published on Sunday by the Jerusalem media and communications centre, showed that more than half of West Bank Palestinians (52 per cent) opposed continuing the violent uprising against Israel, while 76 per cent of their Gazan counterparts were in favour.

Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is facing criticism for the lack of an effective government response to the violence.

Mr Netanyahu says he is awaiting a legal ruling from Israel's attorney general on whether Israel can deport the families of West Bank assailants to either the Gaza Strip or within the West Bank, believing such a measure would deter potential attackers, who are mainly young and unaffiliated with militant groups.

Media outlets

Israel has also shut down a number of Palestinian media outlets which it claimed had incited violence.

Some 44 per cent of the attacks have been perpetrated by Palestinians who were in Israel illegally without a valid work permit. A bill designed to toughen the punitive response against Israelis who employ or house illegal Palestinian infiltrators has been presented to the Knesset parliament.