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After a deadly attack on two Israelis in the northern West Bank, Israeli settlers rioted there on Sunday. A Palestinian has been fatally injured by gunfire, according to the Health Ministry. It was initially unclear whether these had been handed over by settlers or soldiers. At least 100 Palestinians were injured when Israeli settlers set fire to dozens of Palestinian homes, shops and cars in Huwara and surrounding towns, doctors said.

They retaliated for the attack on the two brothers, aged 20 and 22, who had been shot dead in Huwara, south of Nablus. They came from the nearby Israeli settlement of Har Bracha. Meanwhile, the search for the Palestinian suspect continued. In view of the dangerous escalation of the situation, the army announced in the evening that it would add two more battalions to its forces in the West Bank.

Confidence-building measures by Israel and the Palestinians were previously agreed at a meeting in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba. Government officials from the US, Jordan and Egypt also participated in what are believed to be the first direct talks of this kind between the two sides in years. Another meeting is scheduled for next month in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Israelis and Palestinians wanted to suspend “unilateral measures” for three to six months, it said in a joint statement without giving further details. Israel pledged not to talk about building new settlements in the West Bank for four months and not to approve new settlement outposts for six months.

In contrast, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Twitter that Israel had not committed to a building freeze. The expansion and legalization of settlements in the West Bank must proceed according to plan. Treasury Secretary Bezalel Smotrich, who controls settlement construction, among other things, wrote on Twitter: “The expansion and development of the settlement project will not stand still for a day.” The Israeli army will also act without any restrictions against terrorism in the West Bank, he stressed. No explanation was given for the apparent contradiction between the statements of government politicians and the Israeli negotiating delegation in Aqaba.

Netanyahu called on his compatriots to “not take the law into their own hands” on Sunday evening. The leader of the opposition Labor Party, Meirav Michaeli, spoke of a “pogrom” by the settlers against the Palestinians.

The meeting in Aqaba took place about three weeks before the start of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. In recent years, tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have often risen sharply during this period.

The security situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories has long been extremely tense. However, since Netanyahu’s right-wing religious government took office two months ago, it has come to a head again.

Eleven Palestinians were killed and more than 100 injured in an Israeli military operation in Nablus on Thursday. Twelve Israelis and one Ukrainian have been killed in Palestinian attacks since the beginning of the year. During the same period, 63 Palestinians were killed – they were shot in clashes with the Israeli army or after their own attacks.

The Israeli cabinet on Sunday approved a draft law that provides for the death penalty for terrorists. The controversial proposal still has to undergo several readings in parliament before it can enter into force. A first vote is expected on Wednesday.

Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967. Today, more than 600,000 Israeli settlers live there. The Palestinians claim the territories for an independent state of Palestine with the Arab-influenced eastern part of Jerusalem as its capital. (aeg/sda/dpa)