Settler fresh from Gaza genocide wounded in West Bank shooting

A mean wearing eyeglasses smiles in military uniform

Hanania Ben Shimon posted pictures of himself deployed in Gaza, such as this one

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An Israeli reservist who participated in the Gaza genocide was injured in a shooting near a mega-settlement in the occupied West Bank on Thursday morning.

One Israeli man was killed and several others were injured in an operation by three Palestinian men at Highway 1, which connects Tel Aviv to occupied West Bank settlements.

Stills circulated on social media show one man carrying a makeshift Carlo submachine gun on the highway. The Palestinian men reportedly opened fire at cars carrying Israelis during a traffic jam.

Israeli forces and armed civilians shot at the three men, killing Kathem Issa Zawahreh, 31, and his younger brother Muhammad, 26, from the town of Beit Taamir east of Bethlehem in the central occupied West Bank.

Their friend Ahmad Azzam al-Wahsh was also injured, but his health condition remains unknown as Israeli forces detained him.

Footage shows a man in civilian clothing shooting at one of the Palestinian men.

The killed Israeli was identified as Matan Elmaliach, 26, a settler who lived in Maaleh Adumim, an illegal Jewish settlement which divides the north and south of the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli reservist who fatally shot one of the Palestinian men had recently returned from participating in the Gaza genocide for months.

Hanania Ben Shimon, who lives in Maaleh Adumim according to his Facebook profile, was moderately wounded by the Palestinian men. He posted a picture from his hospital bed.

Ben Shimon returned from Gaza around two weeks ago.

The 23-year-old, who wrote fondly of spending time with his comrades at a “bombed-out building in Khan Younis” upon his return, regularly posted dispatches from Gaza on social media.

Ben Shimon posted pictures of the sun setting on landscapes of damaged and destroyed buildings in Gaza, and footage of music blasting around an Israeli tank.

In another picture, soldiers are laying down on mattresses inside a home with the caption, “a huge Gaza villa turned into an IDF home.”

Ben Shimon also posted a picture of the Gaza sky, reflecting on how “In Gaza you see a lot of stars,” – an effect of the coastal enclave being without electricity due to Israel’s complete blockade.

“The complete darkness is only pierced by a random flare or a half a ton bomb that the air force blows over your head,” he wrote on Facebook while still in Gaza.

In another photo posted by Ben Shimon, a Palestinian couple are seen through a monitor holding a white flag that says “the people of Israel are alive,” with the taunting caption: “a Gazan walking with a flag of surrender.”

Israeli occupation forces stormed the Zawahreh brothers’ family house in Beit Taamir east of Bethlehem, arresting members of their family:

Israeli occupation forces then closed off all checkpoints leading to Jerusalem.

Since 7 October, Israeli occupation forces have killed nearly 400 Palestinians in the West Bank.

During the same period, 13 Israelis were killed and nearly 90 were injured in “conflict-related incidents” in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as inside Israel, UN monitoring group OCHA reported.

This includes four Israeli forces, as well as settlers living in illegal Jewish-only colonies in the West Bank.

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the real question is, who armed the illegal settlers...3 guesses.
Unilateral Sociopathy Assured

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Look forward to when radicalized Yeshiva dipshits and their extremist orthodox rabbinate are extradited from the West Bank and fully prosecuted for their violent torture of Palestinians.

"The announcement by Israeli Minister Smotrich to build 3,300 new units in illegal West Bank settlements is inflammatory and dangerous."

"Settlements make Israelis and Palestinians less safe, fuel tensions, obstruct peace efforts, and constitute a grave breach of international law" Josep Borrell Fontelles

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Tamara Nassar

Tamara Nassar is an assistant editor at The Electronic Intifada.