A missing teenager from Israel was found dead in the occupied West Bank on Saturday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as a “horrific murder”.
A large-scale search was launched when 14-year-old Benjamin Achimeir disappeared on Friday. It also led to attacks on Palestinian villages.
“The gruesome murder of the boy… is a serious crime,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
Achimeir disappeared from the Malachi Hashalom outpost near Ramallah on Friday morning. His body was found nearby, the Israeli army and security forces said.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis live in West Bank settlements that are considered illegal under international law.
The incident comes as tensions are already high due to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Israeli security forces and hundreds of volunteers launched a search after Achimeir’s disappearance. Jewish settlers, who were part of the search, raided Al-Mughayyir near Malachi Hashalom on Friday afternoon, according to an AFP reporter.
At least one person was killed and 25 injured, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Friday. The official Palestinian news agency reported overnight that five Palestinians were injured in yet another settler attack in Abu Falah near Ramallah.
War death toll at 33,686
The health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, meanwhile, said on Saturday that at least 33,686 people had died in the territory during the more than six months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The death toll includes at least 52 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to a statement by the ministry. Some 76,309 people have been injured in the Gaza Strip since the war broke out when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7.
