TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) – Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians, including an unarmed woman, in clashes across Israel and the occupied West Bank on Sunday, Israeli and Palestinian officials said. It was the latest in a growing wave of violence that erupted during the holy month of Ramadan.
The shooting took place as Israeli troops were combing the northern West Bank city of Jenin and the surrounding area, home to two of the Palestinians who have carried out deadly attacks on Israelis in recent weeks. This year, Ramadan coincides with the most important Jewish and Christian holidays. Protests during Ramadan last year culminated in an 11-day war between militants from Israel and the Gaza Strip.
“We will be anywhere, anytime, if necessary, to repel these terrorist attacks. Israel is going on the offensive,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told his cabinet.
Four attacks by Palestinians in recent weeks have killed 14 people in one of the deadliest outbreaks of violence against Israelis in years. In response, Israel has increased its military activities in the West Bank.
At a military checkpoint near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Israeli soldiers opened fire on a woman whom the army said ignored orders to stop and ignored warning shots fired into the air.
The army said soldiers aimed at the woman’s lower body. However, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said the woman later died of her injuries at a hospital. Local news reports said she was a 47-year-old mother of six. The Israeli military confirmed the woman was found unarmed and said the incident was being investigated.
Palestinian raiders frequently carry out attacks at checkpoints in the West Bank. But Palestinians and human rights groups say the military often uses excessive force and, in some cases, has injured or killed people not involved in the violence.
In the troubled southern West Bank city of Hebron, Israel Border Police said an officer shot dead another woman who had stabbed and slightly injured him near the Cave of the Patriarchs, a holy site revered by Jews and Muslims. Palestinian officials said the woman was killed.
Further violence erupted later on Sunday as Israeli forces patrolled Jenin, believed to be a stronghold of Palestinian militants, while soldiers searched the home of an attacker who killed three Israelis in a mass shooting last week. The army said soldiers were fired upon by a gunman on a motorcycle and fired at him. The condition of the man was initially unknown.
Israel has taken a number of steps to try to calm the situation, including granting work permits to thousands of Palestinians from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip inside Israel. At the same time, she has stepped up security measures to prevent further violence.
Defense Secretary Benny Gantz on Sunday signed orders placing two Palestinian citizens of Israel under administrative detention, a controversial practice that allows authorities to hold them without charge. One suspect was jailed for four months on suspicion of planning an attack, while the second suspect was jailed for six months for alleged previous involvement in militant activities, the Defense Department said.
Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to spend just over $110 million to expand about 40 kilometers (25 miles) of the porous West Bank barrier. Some of the attackers are said to have sneaked into Israel without permission.
Late Saturday, Israel announced it was tightening restrictions on entry and exit from Jenin, although it continued to allow workers to enter Israel for work. A raid on the home of one of the attackers on Saturday sparked a shootout that killed at least one Palestinian militant.
Jenin Governor Akram Rajoub condemned ongoing Israeli activities in the region, calling the actions “an expression of collective punishment” that disrupt Palestinian life rather than thwart attacks.
In Sunday’s raid, the military said a “violent uprising” broke out when troops operated in the village of Yabad, the home of one of the attackers. It was said that the armed forces opened fire and shot dead a Palestinian who had thrown an explosive at them. It was unclear what his condition was.
The forces arrested at least eight suspects and found Israeli military ammunition and uniforms in one of the suspect’s houses, as well as illegal weapons, the military said.
Former Brig. Gen. Ran Kochav, the top military spokesman, told Israeli army radio that about 100 Palestinians marched to Joseph’s Tomb in the West Bank city of Nablus late Saturday and set it on fire before being driven out by Palestinian security forces. Images on social media showed parts of the tomb inside the shrine smashed and charred.
Joseph’s Tomb is a focal place of worship. Some Jews believe that the biblical Joseph is buried in the tomb, while Muslims say that a sheikh is buried there. The army, in coordination with the Palestinian security forces, escorts Jewish believers to the site several times a year.
The incident was condemned by Israeli leaders. “The vandalism of Joseph’s tomb is a serious event and a serious violation of religious freedom in one of the holiest places for any Jew,” Gantz tweeted.