Tensions escalated in several villages in the West Bank on Saturday following the discovery of the body of an Israeli teenager who had gone missing the day before.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced “a heinous crime” after the discovery on Saturday of the body of a young Israeli shepherd in the occupied West Bank, where the incident sparked a surge of violence against Palestinians.

Attacks on Palestinian villages north of Ramallah have intensified and spread since the disappearance of the teenager on Friday and worsened on Saturday after the announcement of his death at midday.

Half a dozen villages were besieged by the army and attacked by hundreds of settlers, resulting in several injuries, including one person shot in the head, according to Palestinian authorities and media.

“Scores of settlers are attacking the village and burning everything in their path,” said Amir Abou Alia, the mayor of al-Mughayyir, to AFP.

Plumes of smoke from houses, fields, buildings, and agricultural equipment set on fire rose above the hills and valleys, as observed by AFP correspondents.

An Israeli journalist from the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Shaul Golan, also reported being assaulted by several extremist settlers while covering the clashes.

Call for Calm

It was near al-Mughayyir that 14-year-old Benjamin Achimeir disappeared Friday morning while grazing his sheep, which returned without him to his farm in Malachei HaShalom.

A large-scale operation was immediately launched by the army, and hundreds of civilians, including many settlers, were deployed to try to find him.

The boy’s body was located on Saturday at midday nearby. “Benjamin Achimeir was murdered in a terrorist attack,” said the army, police, and the Shin Bet internal security service in a statement.

Israeli security forces are engaged “in the intensive pursuit of the despicable murderers and all those who collaborated with them,” said Benjamin Netanyahu, condemning “a heinous crime.”

The Prime Minister also called for calm, urging “all Israeli citizens to allow the security forces to do their work unimpeded,” and his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, warned against any “act of vengeance.”

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, on his part, denounced “the violence of the settlers,” calling it a “dangerous violation of the law.”

Smoldering Wrecks

The Palestinian Ministry of Health and the Palestinian Red Crescent have reported at least one death and dozens of injuries, many of them by gunfire, since Friday.

Some stunned residents explored the remains of their homes, reduced to nothing but the skeletons of bricks and gaping windows overlooking the plain.

Along the roadsides, dozens of burned-out cars and army checkpoints were set up to search vehicles.

According to the mayor of Duma, near Nablus (in the center), the West Bank “has been experiencing a real state of war since yesterday.” In his municipality alone, 15 houses and 10 livestock farms were burned, he told AFP.

UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, urged on Friday the “UN to authorize the deployment of a protective presence” in the territories.

With AFP