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West Bank violence escalates
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers and soldiers intensified attacks against Palestinians in recent days, with the violence beginning on Thursday when settlers and soldiers killed four Palestinians and injured eight across the West Bank.
“On the morning of July 24, more than 20 Israeli settlers from the illegal Havat Gilad settlement attacked Palestinians’ homes on the eastern edge of Tal, southwest of Nablus in the occupied West Bank”
On Friday, a group of armed settlers attacked Palestinians on their land in the village of Tal, killing at least four people, and a Palestinian man seized an attacker’s weapon and shot and killed two Israelis.
The escalation also included demolitions of homes and revocation of work permits for Palestinians in villages described as “terror hotspots,” as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz responded to the deaths of the two Israelis.
The UN’s OCHA documented more than 1,330 incidents involving Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank since the start of 2026, and said that since last Thursday at least eight Palestinians have been killed, including a child, while homes, mosques, trees and agricultural facilities were burned or destroyed.
Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Deputy Special Representative for the Middle East, told the Security Council that “Attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities, homes, places of worship, and civilian infrastructure have continued at an alarming level.”
Threats, detentions, and UN alarm
In response to the Tal killings, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on X that West Bank towns and villages where Palestinians attack Israelis should be demolished in the same way Beit Hanoun in Gaza was, adding, “I will demand that the Israeli army be ordered to wipe out… the homes of terrorists and their supporters.”
The UN also warned of a broader deterioration, with Ramiz Alakbarov urging Israeli authorities to act and saying, “I call on Israel to take immediate and effective measures to prevent settler violence, protect Palestinian communities, and ensure that those responsible are held to account.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s military said it detained more than 70 suspects across the occupied West Bank overnight, as the death toll from Friday’s clash near Tal was revised to two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinian villagers.
International Business Times reported that troops raided a Nablus hospital as part of a widening counterterrorism operation, and said Israeli forces arrested more than 40 young men in an ongoing raid on Tal alone.
Palestinian higher commission for prisoner affairs president Amin Shuman told the AP that Israel imposed “collective punitive measures and retaliatory policies,” while the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said eight Palestinians were injured, including six by live gunfire, in an attack by Israeli settlers on Farata east of Qalqilya.
Humanitarian impact and accountability
OCHA said Israeli forces tightened restrictions on Palestinians’ movement and access to various areas of the West Bank, preventing thousands from reaching essential services, including emergency medical care and means of livelihood.
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Al Jazeera reported that since the beginning of the year the UN documented more than 1,330 incidents involving Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, and said that since last Thursday at least eight Palestinians have been killed, including a child, while 10 Palestinian families were forced to flee.
The UN office also stressed that humanitarian actors continue to call for urgent protection of civilians and strict adherence to international humanitarian law and international human rights law, underscoring the importance of accountability for those responsible for violations.
In parallel, Anadolu Ajansı reported that the UN said the dead occurred up to last Saturday amid rising violence and expanding attacks by settlers and the Israeli army, and that it has documented more than 1,330 incidents since the start of the year.
Anadolu Ajansı further stated that the assaults by the Israeli army and settlers have escalated since the start of Israel’s war of genocide in Gaza in October 2023, which, according to official Palestinian figures, has killed more than 1,182 Palestinians, injured about 13,000, and detained around 24,000 during the same period.
