Ben Gvir: Israel must 'crush enemies' after Nablus rampage as far-right 'stroke tensions'

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said "we must crush our enemies", after one Palestinian and two Israelis were killed in the occupied West Bank.

Ben-Gvir, who is notorious for his racist statements against Palestinians, said on Monday he "understand[s] the hard feelings" of Israeli settlers, who violently stormed through the town of Hawara on Sunday, according to Haaretz, torching homes and vehicles.

Over 350 Palestinians were injured and one killed in the rampage, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

"This is not a war that began yesterday, not a war that's going to end in one day, but it's a war for our home, for our lives," Ben-Gvir reportedly said. He added that the rampage and shootings "must teach us… we are at war".

Prior to the attacks by settlers, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had also liked a tweet - which has since been deleted - by the deputy head of Samaria Regional Council Davidi Ben Zion saying that "the village of Hawara should be wiped out today", according to Haaretz.

"Enough with talk about building and strengthening the settlement, the deterrence needs to happen immediately and there is no room for mercy," the settler chief added.

Ben-Gvir and Smotrich advised Israeli settlers not to take the law into their own hands, but allow the military to raid the occupied West Bank.

"The government of Israel, the State of Israel, the [army], the security forces... are the ones who have to crush our enemies," Ben-Gvir said.

He had previously hailed an Israeli soldier who shot dead an unarmed Palestinian as a "hero".

Ben-Gvir was also previously convicted of inciting racism and supporting a terrorist organisation in 2007 after he called for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

The West Bank is home to about 2.9 million Palestinians as well as an estimated 475,000 Jewish settlers, who live in settlements considered illegal under international law.

Since the start of this year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of at least 63 Palestinians.

Eleven Israeli civilians have been killed over the same period, according to an AFP tally based on official sources from both sides.