Gaza Genocide23 July, 20263 min read
Israeli Forces Kill Two Palestinians In Beit Furik, Withhold Their Bodies
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Two Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Beit Furik, east of Nablus. Bodies of the dead were withheld by Israeli forces.
Beit Furik raid and deaths
Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians in the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus, on Thursday, and later withheld their bodies, according to Wafa as cited by Muslim Network TV. Muslim Network TV said two other Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire and taken to a hospital, while Beit Furik Mayor Youssef Hanani said Israeli forces sealed all entrances to the town and prevented residents from entering or leaving. Al Jazeera reported that Israeli forces opened fire after residents attempted to extinguish fires on Palestinian farmland started by Israeli settlers, injuring four Palestinians in Beit Furik, and said two of the men later died from their injuries.
In the same sequence, Al Jazeera said Israel withheld the bodies of the two men and that Hanani described residents as being attacked by Israeli soldiers and settlers while they tried to put out the flames. Al Jazeera also reported that on Thursday evening a third Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli forces near the illegal Israeli settlement of Ganim after the Israeli military claimed he stabbed a soldier in the leg.
Competing claims and closures
Al Jazeera said it was not clear if settlers or soldiers opened fire on the Palestinians, while Israel claimed that a group of Palestinians set fire to the farmland and attacked settlers from the Derech Avraham outpost near the illegal Elon Moreh settlement. Al Jazeera quoted Hanani saying Israeli forces had sealed all entrances to Beit Furik and deployed a large number of soldiers and settlers, and said the clampdown left dozens of Palestinians trapped in the town. Middle East Eye described the same Beit Furik incident through Wafa, saying Israeli settlers deliberately set fire to agricultural land and attacked Palestinians as they were attempting to put out the fire, and added that Wafa said the military backed up the settlers.
Middle East Eye also reported that the Israeli military accused the Palestinians of carrying out knife attacks during what it called a “friction,” framing the violence around an alleged stabbing rather than the firefighting account. In parallel, Muslim Network TV said the Israeli military earlier on Thursday claimed its forces had killed another Palestinian near the illegal settlement of Ganim in the northern West Bank, alleging he carried out a stabbing attack against an Israeli soldier.
Broader war context and arrests
Muslim Network TV tied the West Bank violence to the Gaza war, saying violence across the occupied West Bank has intensified since the start of the genocide in Gaza since October 2023, and gave figures of at least 1,185 Palestinians killed and 3,816 others injured in military operations and settler attacks during that period. Al Jazeera Net reported that two Palestinians were martyred and two others injured in Beit Furik, while a settler was stabbed, and said 32 Palestinians were arrested in various areas of the West Bank. Al Jazeera Net added that the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said two men in their forties were injured by live bullets in the abdomen in Beit Furik and that the injured were transported to Rafidia Government Hospital in Nablus for treatment.
Al Jazeera Net also said Israeli forces closed the Beit Furik/Beit Dajan military checkpoint, raided the area, and closed the two towns’ entrances with military vehicles, launching search operations at the site. Finally, Al Jazeera Net reported that the Palestinian Committee for Resistance to the Wall and Settlements said 20 Palestinians were martyred at the hands of settlers in the West Bank this year, including 16 by gunfire, and said the number indicates a dangerous rise in settlers’ crimes.