Four Palestinians have been killed in a flare-up of violence as Israel counts votes.

Four Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in two different places: the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.

As Israel counted up the final votes from this week’s national elections, violence broke out on Thursday. Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to lead a comfortable majority with the help of far-right allies.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, an Israeli soldier killed a Palestinian man in the West Bank. Daoud Mahmoud Khalil Rayan, 42, of Beit Duqqu, West Bank, was identified.

According to Israeli police, paramilitary Border Guards raided the home of a Palestinian who they claim hit an Israeli soldier with his car on Wednesday. According to the police, the guards faced a protest there, with demonstrators throwing stones and firebombs at them. They then opened fire on the person who threw the firebomb.

Separately, on Thursday, a Palestinian allegedly stabbed a police officer in Jerusalem’s Old City, prompting officers to open fire and kill the man. The officer was only lightly injured.

In Jenin, the Israeli army killed two Palestinians, one of whom was a fighter for Islamic Jihad.

The violence occurred as a result of a political shift in Israel following national elections, with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expected to return to power in a coalition government made up of far-right allies, including extreme far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir, who said in response to the incidents that Israel would soon take a tougher approach to attackers.

“The Time Has Come to Restore Street Security,” he tweeted. “The Time Has Come To Take Out A Terrorist Who Goes Out To Carry Out An Attack!”

The attacks were the most recent in a wave of violence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem that has killed over 130 Palestinians this year, making 2022 the deadliest year since 2015.

Israeli forces have conducted nearly daily raids in the West Bank, with Palestinian fighters responding by attacking Israeli soldiers.

The raids are part of an Israeli operation called “Break the Wave,” which aims to prevent the formation of new Palestinian resistance groups in the West Bank.

In recent weeks, there has been an increase in attacks against Israelis, with at least three people killed.

Also on Thursday, Israel announced the removal of checkpoints in and out of Nablus. Israel imposed the restrictions weeks ago, clamping down on the city in response to the Lions’ Den, a new militant group. In the last few weeks, the military has done several operations in the city, killing or arresting the top leaders of the group.

In the 1967 war, Israel captured the West Bank and has since maintained an illegal military occupation of the territory, settling over 500,000 people. The Palestinians want the territory, as well as the West Bank and East Jerusalem, for their envisioned independent state.

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HImansh is a freelance writer and editor specializing in Public Relations, Culture, Politics and the intersection between them. He's a St.Xavier's College Graduate who has a degree in Public Relations. He's currently based in Chandigarh, India Word from Himansh: “If I was down to my last dollar, I would spend it on public relations.”