JERUSALEM (AP) – Scores of Israeli settlers rampaged in the northern West Bank late Sunday, setting dozens of cars and homes on fire after two settlers were killed by a Palestinian gunman. Palestinian medics said one man was killed and four others seriously injured in what appeared to be the worst outbreak of settler violence in decades.
The fatal shooting, followed by the nightly killing sprees, immediately cast doubt on Jordan’s declaration that Israeli and Palestinian officials pledged to calm a years-long spate of violence.
According to Palestinian media, about 30 houses and cars were set on fire. Photos and videos on social media showed large fires burning across the town of Hawara – the scene of the fatal shooting earlier in the day – lighting up the sky.
In one video, crowds of Jewish settlers could be heard reciting the Jewish prayer for the dead while staring at a building ablaze. And before that, a prominent Israeli cabinet minister and settler leader called on Israel to strike “without mercy.”
Late Sunday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said a 37-year-old man was shot and killed by Israeli fire. The Palestinian Red Crescent Medical Service said two other people were shot and injured, a third person was stabbed and a fourth was beaten with an iron bar. About 95 others were treated for tear gas inhalation.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned what he called “the terrorist attacks carried out by settlers under the protection of occupying forces tonight.”
“We hold the Israeli government fully responsible,” he added.
As videos of the violence appeared on the evening newscasts, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed for calm and urged vigilante violence. “I ask that you do not take up the law when the blood is boiling and the spirit is hot,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.
The Israeli military said its chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzl Halevi, rushed to the scene and forces were trying to restore order.
The killing spree came shortly after the Jordanian government, which hosted the Sunday talks in the Red Sea resort of Aqaba, said the sides had agreed to take steps to de-escalate tensions and would meet again next month ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“They reiterated the need to commit to de-escalation on the ground and prevent further violence,” Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said.
After nearly a year of fighting that killed over 200 Palestinians and more than 40 Israelis in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Jordanian announcement was a small sign of progress. But the situation on the ground immediately called these promises into question.
The Palestinians claim the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip – territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War – for a future state. About 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The international community overwhelmingly views the settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace.
There are a number of settlements in the West Bank whose residents frequently destroy Palestinian land and property. But rarely is violence so widespread.
Prominent members of the far-right Israeli government have called for tough action against the Palestinians.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler leader who lives in the area and is responsible for much of Israel’s West Bank policy, called for “a merciless attack with tanks and helicopters on the cities of terror and their instigators.”
In a phrase that calls for a stronger response, he said Israel should act “in a manner that conveys the householder has gone mad.”
An Israeli ministerial committee has first approved a bill that would impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of deadly assaults. The measure was sent to lawmakers for further debate.
There were also different interpretations of what exactly was agreed between Palestinians and Israelis in Aqaba.
Jordan’s foreign ministry said officials agreed to work towards a “just and lasting peace” and pledged to preserve the status quo at Jerusalem’s contested holy site.
Tensions at the site revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as Haram al-Sharif have often escalated into violence, sparking an 11-day war between Israel and the militant group Hamas during Ramadan two years ago.
Officials in the Israeli government, the most far-right in Israeli history, downplayed Sunday’s meeting.
A senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity under government guidelines, said only that the sides in Jordan had agreed to set up a committee to work on renewing security ties with the Palestinians. The Palestinians severed ties last month after a deadly Israeli military attack on the West Bank.
Netanyahu’s national security adviser Tzahi Hanegbi, who led the Israeli delegation, said there were “no changes” in Israeli policy and that plans to build thousands of new settlement houses approved last week would not be affected.
He said “there is no freeze on settlement” and “there is no restriction on army activities”.
The Jordanian announcement said Israel had promised not to legalize more outposts for six months or authorize new construction in existing settlements for four months.
The Palestinians, meanwhile, said they had presented a long list of grievances, including an end to Israeli settlement building on occupied land and a halt to Israeli military attacks on Palestinian towns.
Sunday’s shooting in Hawara came days after an Israeli military attack killed 10 Palestinians in the nearby city of Nablus. The shooting occurred on a main road that serves both Palestinians and Israeli settlers. The two men killed were identified as brothers aged 21 and 19 from the Jewish settlement of Har Bracha.
Hanegbi was joined by the head of Israel’s state security Shin Bet, who was attending the talks in neighboring Jordan. The head of the Palestinian secret service and advisers to President Mahmoud Abbas also joined.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who has close ties to the Palestinians, chaired the discussions, while Egypt, another mediator, and the United States also took part.
In Washington, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan welcomed the meeting. “We recognize that this meeting was a starting point,” he said, adding that implementation will be crucial.”
It was a rare high-level meeting between the sides that highlighted the seriousness of the crisis and concerns about escalating violence as Ramadan approaches in late March.
In Gaza, Hamas, an Islamist militant group that seeks Israel’s destruction, criticized Sunday’s meeting, calling the shooting a “natural response” to Israel’s invasion of the West Bank.
Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. The militant group Hamas then took control of the area, and Israel and Egypt maintain a blockade over the area.
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AP correspondent Omar Akour contributed reports from Amman, Jordan.