Jewish settler attack raises fears of renewed violence in the West Bank

A 26-year-old Israeli-American settler was shot dead Monday night in Jericho in apparent revenge by Palestinian radicals for the Hawara bombing that killed one civilian and injured more than 300. The attack was carried out by more than 400 settlers in retaliation for the deaths of two settlers hours earlier in a terrorist attack.

According to eyewitnesses, it was an unprecedented explosion of violence as settlers set fire to houses and cars and destroyed everything in their path. Hamas says the attack “crossed all red lines” and was “a declaration of war.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, called for calm and asked the settlers “not to take justice into their own hands.”