Two Palestinians were killed after allegedly stabbing an Israeli man fighting a fire near a West Bank settlement.
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An Israeli civilian killed two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Thursday after they allegedly stabbed another Israeli who was attempting to extinguish a fire near a settlement, the Israeli military said.
The military said the fire broke out near the settlement of Itamar and that the two Palestinians stabbed the Israeli during efforts to extinguish the blaze.
Another Israeli witnessed the attack and killed the two Palestinians. The military did not specify how they were killed.
Israeli police said the stabbing occurred while Israelis were attempting to extinguish a fire that had apparently been deliberately set.
The wounded Israeli was stabbed in the chest and taken to hospital in serious condition, according to a medic from the Magen David Adom emergency service.
Yossi Dagan, head of the administrative body representing settlements in the northern West Bank, visited the scene and called on the Israeli government to respond “with an iron fist.”
Dagan said the two Palestinians were from the village of Beit Furik and alleged that residents of the village were responsible for starting the fire.
The Israeli military said police and fire services were investigating the circumstances surrounding the blaze.
Excluding East Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements across the West Bank alongside approximately three million Palestinians. Israeli settlements in the territory are considered illegal under international law.
Figures based on Palestinian Health Ministry data show that Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,090 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
