Israel seals off Palestinian village Qabatiyah after deadly attack

Qabatiyah: Israeli forces imposed a lockdown on a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, their second day of operations there after a local resident killed two people in Israel.

“The IDF (Israeli army) is operating forcefully in the village of Qabatiya… accompanied by a lockdown and a complete cordon around the locality,” Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement published by his office on Saturday.

“We will continue to pursue an uncompromising offensive policy against Palestinians,” he added.

Bilal Hunaisha, a resident of Qabatiya, south of Jenin in the northern West Bank, said the town “is being subjected to collective punishment by the Israeli occupation”.

“As you can see, they blocked the way to my house and I am no longer able to move around,” he told AFP, pointing to a pile of rubble obstructing the road.

In the attack on Friday a 34-year-old Palestinian man killed two people in northern Israel.

The assailant, who had been working illegally in Israel, had used his employer’s vehicle to ram into a 68-year-old man and then stabbed an 18-year-old girl to death, according to Israeli police.

A few hours later, the Israeli army and the Shin Bet domestic security agency began operating in Qabatiya. They searched the perpetrator’s house and questioned suspects, the army said.

On Saturday, the army’s Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir ordered the reinforcement of troops deployed in the area.

“This period is characterised by lone attackers and individuals staying illegally in (Israel). Enforcement against those who transport and employ them must be strengthened and improved,” he said, according to an army statement.

“At the same time, we must continue to enhance our capabilities to identify and thwart these attackers.”

Qabatiya resident Muhannad Zakarneh told AFP that the army arrested him at home at 6 am “for no obvious reasons” and kept him handcuffed for hours.

“When I asked what my charge was, there was no response,” he said.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that besides blocking entrances and conducting interrogations and home searches, Israeli forces also took over a school and used it as a “detention and interrogation centre”.

Since the start of the war in Gaza following Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023, at least 38 people, including two foreigners, have been killed inside Israel in attacks by Palestinians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

During the same period, violence has also surged in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

Israeli troops and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, including many militants as well as dozens of civilians, according to an AFP tally based on figures from the Palestinian health ministry.

According to official Israeli figures, at least 44 Israelis, both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations in the same period in the West Bank.