Netanyahu vows crackdown amid deadly clashes in Israeli occupied West Bank

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday his government would establish new settler outposts in the occupied West Bank and legalize more existing ones, after a deadly clash left two Israelis and four Palestinians dead.

Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz announced "a series of steps" including "powerful action" and raids in Palestinian villages suspected of hosting militants and "accelerating the legalization of farm outposts and establishment of new ones."

All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are regarded as illegal under international law, but they've been encouraged by Israel's current government, which swung sharply to the right when Netanyahu formed his governing coalition with parties that had long existed on the right-wing fringes of Israeli politics.

Israel disputes the international position that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal, arguing that most are legal under its own laws. For its part, the Israeli government has accused the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) of "prejudicial conduct," including downplaying "the level of violence against Israeli civilians" in the West Bank.

Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians has increased since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas led attack sparked the war in Gaza. Critics say Netanyahu's government, which includes ultranationalist, pro-settler ministers, has helped embolden the attacks.

Netanyahu vowed a forceful response Friday after the clash near the settlement of Havat Gilad and the neighboring Palestinian village of Tell, deep inside the West Bank.

Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements across the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, alongside around three million Palestinians. Israel says the area is disputed territory.

Netanyahu said his government would "act with full force against the terrorists and those who orchestrate and sponsor them."

He made the declaration as his office confirmed that he would meet next week, at the invitation of President Trump, with the U.S. president in Washington. Netanyahu will also attend the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham.

According to Walid Zidan, head of the Tell village council, Friday's clashes began when a group of about 20 settlers entered the village.

"Villagers came out to defend their homes and property. Clashes and physical altercations broke out between the residents and the settlers," Zidan told AFP. "Israeli soldiers were present and together with the settlers began opening fire ... it was the settlers who sto