Israeli Forces Investigate Settler Attacks, Arrest Four Israelis After Vehicle Fire Near Ramallah

Israeli forces and police launched investigations after Palestinian media reported several settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank on Saturday, hours after the IDF and police announced probes into violent incidents involving settlers and soldiers in the territory a day earlier.

“The worrying rise in violence attributed to Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in recent days underscores the need to dismantle illegal settlements, end Israel's occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories, and dismantle its apartheid system that has lasted far too long, Amnesty International said”

Amnesty International

In one of the most serious incidents, the IDF said it was investigating soldiers who stood by as several masked Israeli settlers, including a reservist, set fire to vehicles in the Palestinian village of Shuqba near Ramallah on Friday, after troops were dispatched following reports that masked Israelis vandalized and set fire to vehicles.

Amnesty International

The IDF said, “When the troops arrived, some of the Israeli civilians tried to flee the area while others continued to vandalize the vehicles,” and a military source confirmed the troops did not detain any of the assailants as they were carrying out the attack.

Border Police officers later arrested four Israeli civilians and a reservist serving in one of the IDF’s so-called area defense forces, known by its Hebrew acronym “Hagmar,” suspected of participating in the attack.

Separately, Palestinian Authority health officials said Israeli forces killed a man on the outskirts of the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, and the IDF later confirmed opening fire on a Palestinian suspect near Jenin.

Amid the investigations, the IDF said it would probe the conduct of troops who stood by during the Shuqba attack, while police announced investigations into suspected crimes by settlers.

In a separate incident under investigation, the army said a video showing a reservist dragging a bound and blindfolded Palestinian detainee involved “a soldier on active reserve duty” who acted “in an inappropriate manner that deviated from the rules,” and it added that “The incident and the behavior of the forces are being investigated.”

Middle East Monitor

The WAFA Agency described a different pattern of violence on Saturday night, saying colonists hurled stones at passing Palestinian-registered vehicles on the road linking the cities of Ramallah and Nablus near the Shilo colony, with no injuries or material damage reported.

In the same West Bank area, Palestinian sources also reported that Israeli occupiers set fire to a mosque and several Palestinian-owned vehicles early Friday in the village of Jibiya, northwest of Ramallah, and sprayed racist slogans on the walls of homes, according to WAFA as cited by Middle East Monitor.

Amnesty International framed the broader surge as state-backed, with Heba Morayef saying, “Israeli forces have in the past fostered settler violence, and it is scandalous that once again they did not intervene, or even participated in these violences.”

The investigations and raids unfolded alongside continued attacks and military operations across the occupied West Bank, with The Times of Israel saying the incidents took place in the central or northern West Bank over the past two days amid heightened tensions and ongoing military operations.

“Creating new perspectives since 2009 May 15, 2026 at 4:39 pm Israeli occupiers set fire to a mosque and several Palestinian-owned vehicles early Friday in the village of Jibiya, northwest of Ramallah, the official news agency Wafa reported”

Middle East Monitor

The IDF’s internal scrutiny extended to Hagmar units, where the military said dozens of soldiers have been dismissed for violations including attacks on Palestinians in recent years, while it also said it was reducing the number of active Hagmar soldiers in the West Bank in recent days.

Amnesty International linked the violence to settlement expansion and urged dismantling, with Heba Morayef warning that “Establishing Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories violates international law and constitutes a war crime.”

In parallel, WAFA reported that colonists attacked Palestinian residents’ vehicles northeast of Ramallah near the Shilo colony on Saturday night, and it said no injuries or material damage were reported.

With the violence continuing across multiple West Bank locations, Amnesty International said the verified videos it reviewed showed Israeli soldiers present but not intervening during attacks carried out by settlers, and it cited testimony that Israeli army personnel took part in attacks or watched without acting.