Four Palestinians Dead After Israeli Settler Attack in Occupied West Bank

Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1255 EAT on Friday 24 July 2026

Four Palestinians were killed and four others injured in an attack involving Israeli forces and settlers in the town of Tal, southwest of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said the attack, which occurred on Friday, left three of the injured in critical condition.

Israeli health authorities, meanwhile, reported that one Israeli settler was killed and several others were injured in the same area.

The violence erupted in the town of Tal, near the illegal Israeli settlement of Havat Gilad, after Israeli settlers reportedly raided the area on Friday, according to local residents and security sources. Witnesses said the settlers opened live fire as Palestinians attempted to defend their homes, triggering clashes.

Essam Saifi, a local Fatah leader in Tal, told Reuters by phone that about 25 to 30 Israeli settlers initially attacked the eastern part of the town and attempted to force their way into two homes. Residents confronted them, prompting the settlers to open fire.

Saifi said the settlers returned about 30 minutes later and launched a second attack on the western side of the town, where a child was struck with a weapon. The incident sparked panic, after which Israeli troops arrived and, according to Saifi, opened fire alongside the settlers.

The Israeli military gave a different account, saying it had deployed troops to the area near Havat Gilad following what it described as “an attack on Israelis hiking in the area.”

The military alleged that a Palestinian seized a weapon from local security personnel and opened fire on the Israeli settlers.

Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency service said one Israeli was killed in the incident, while two others were airlifted to hospital with injuries.

“Time and again, these incidents have followed a similar pattern, with armed Israeli settlers accused of provoking Palestinians and taking over their land,” Ibrahim said. “In some cases, settlers arrive with caravans, erect temporary structures, and those sites later develop into illegal Israeli settlements.”

Following the violence, Israeli forces sealed off Nablus and the nearby town of Tal, imposing a security cordon across the area.

“The Israeli military often restricts access to medical assistance for injured Palestinians by closing off surrounding areas,” Ibrahim said. “That is what we are witnessing now, with all checkpoints leading into Tal shut.”

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the killings in Tal bring the number of Palestinians killed by Israelis in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of the year to 86, including 21 who were killed by settlers.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the killings, describing them as a “massacre” and accusing Israeli authorities and settlers of carrying out coordinated attacks against Palestinians.

“The Ministry affirms that this massacre represents a renewed image of the ongoing Nakba to which our Palestinian people are subjected, and reflects the integration of crimes and roles and the deliberate escalation of these coordinated crimes between the occupation authorities and their forces and settler gangs,” the ministry said in a statement posted on X on Friday.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a strong response after an Israeli was killed near Tal, saying he would convene an emergency meeting to discuss the government’s next steps.

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also called on the military to act with an “iron fist” against the Palestinian town and surrounding areas where the Israeli was killed.

“The people of the farms and the heroic settlement pioneers are the defensive wall of the State of Israel. We will continue to strengthen and honour them for their steadfast stand for our existence,” Smotrich said in a post on X.

-AlJazeera

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