Five killed in West Bank shooting near Nablus

Four Palestinians and one Israeli were killed Friday in a shooting near the Palestinian village of Tal in the occupied West Bank, in the deadliest single incident there in months and amid sharply conflicting accounts of how the violence began.

Palestinian officials and local witnesses said Israeli settlers attacked homes in Tal, southwest of Nablus, and opened fire as residents tried to defend their property. The Israeli military said Palestinians attacked Israeli civilians hiking in the area, stole a security guard’s weapon and shot at Israelis.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said four Palestinians were killed and four others wounded, three of them critically, Al Jazeera reported. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said one Israeli was killed and two others were wounded and evacuated by helicopter.

Ahmed Zeidan, an eyewitness, told the BBC the incident began early in the morning when residents rushed to confront about 30 settlers attacking Palestinian homes. He said hand-to-hand clashes broke out in the presence of Israeli soldiers before escalating into gunfire between settlers and young Palestinian men.

Essam Saifi, a local leader in the ruling Fatah party from Tal, told Reuters that about 25 to 30 settlers first attacked the eastern part of the village and tried to break into two houses. Residents came out to confront them, he said, and the settlers opened fire. Saifi said the settlers returned about half an hour later and attacked the western part of the village, striking a child with a weapon, before Israeli soldiers arrived and also began shooting. He told Reuters two brothers and two of their cousins were among the Palestinians killed.

The Israel Defense Forces gave a different account. It said soldiers went to the area near the Havat Gilad settler outpost after a report of an attack on Israeli civilians hiking nearby. A security guard from a nearby settler outpost went to the scene, the military said, but a Palestinian stole his weapon and shot and killed him. Soldiers then “eliminated the terrorist who executed the terror attack,” the IDF said.

The IDF said it was preparing for a major operation in the area and had canceled soldiers’ leave. An AFP reporter at the scene, according to the BBC, said troops had set up roadblocks and were searching for additional suspects. Al Jazeera reported that Israeli forces imposed a security cordon around Nablus and Tal and closed checkpoints leading to the village.

The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned what it called a “massacre” in Tal, saying “the escalation of settler terrorism is a direct consequence of the protection, political backing, and complete impunity granted by the Israeli government and occupation forces.” In a post on X cited by Al Jazeera, the ministry said the killings represented “a renewed image of the ongoing Nakba” and reflected coordinated crimes by Israeli authorities, forces and settlers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would act “with full force against the terrorists and those who orchestrate and sponsor them.” He convened an emergency meeting with security officials, and reinforcements were sent to the area. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on the army to act with an “iron fist” against Tal and its surroundings, Al Jazeera reported.

Violence in the West Bank has surged since the Gaza war began after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The United Nations says 1,114 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since then, most by the IDF, with at least 35 deaths involving settler attacks. The UN says 41 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations there in the same period.

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jews in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since occupying those areas in the 1967 Middle East war. About 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them. The settlements are illegal under international law.