Israeli settler dies from wounds in West Bank attack

Ahiad Ettinger, a 47-year-old rabbi who lived in the Eli settlement in the occupied West Bank, was shot in the gun and knife attack on Sunday.
2 min read
18 March, 2019
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. [Getty]

An Israeli settler wounded in a Palestinian attack that killed an Israeli soldier and injured another one in an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank died of his injuries on Monday, his family said.

Ahiad Ettinger, a 47-year-old rabbi who lived in the Eli settlement in the occupied West Bank, was shot in the gun and knife attack on Sunday.

Israel's army said the assailant attacked a soldier with a knife at a junction near the illegal Ariel settlement and snatched his weapon.

He later fired on three vehicles before taking one of the cars to another nearby junction, where he opened fire and wounded a second soldier.

The second soldier was said to be in serious condition.

Israeli security forces were pursuing the alleged attacker on Monday.

Ettinger was the father of 12 children, Israeli media reported.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. More than 600,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

All Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank are classed as illegal under international law, particularly article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which asserts that "the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies".

Israeli forces and settlers routinely attack Palestinians in the occupied territories, demolishing their homes, poisoning their livestock and vandalising their properties.

Follow us on Twitter: @The_NewArab