Three Palestinians killed amid sharp rise in settler attacks in West Bank

Israeli settlers killed three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Sunday amid a sharp rise in attacks. This came after another deadly incident involving settlers the previous day.

Three residents of Abu Falah, a village northeast of Ramallah, were killed after armed Israeli settlers stormed the town overnight.

The Palestinian health ministry said in a statement on Sunday that Thaer Farouk Hamayel, 24, and Farea Jawdet Hamaeyl, 57, died from gunshot wounds to the head.

A 55-year-old resident, Muhammad Hassan Murrah, also died after his heart stopped due to tear gas inhalation fired by Israeli forces who intervened while protecting the settlers.

The Israeli military said it had responded to reports of Palestinians being attacked in the area but did not clarify whether any of the settlers involved were arrested.

Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh described the incident as a "brutal attack on innocent citizens", confirming that three people were killed and seven others injured.

Friends and families of the victims held funerals on Sunday afternoon.

In a separate incident, Amir Shnaran, a resident of Susiya in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, was killed by Israeli settlers who stormed the town on Saturday night.

This brings the death toll from settler violence to eight since the outbreak of hostilities with Iran.

Rights groups have warned that, as international focus shifts towards Iran, Israel is exploiting the distraction to escalate attacks and incursions throughout the occupied territories.

Settler attacks spread across the West Bank

Settler assaults continued overnight across much of the occupied West Bank.

According to the al-Baydar Organisation, settlers attacked a Bedouin community in the Maazi Jaba area north of Jerusalem on Saturday night, killing several cattle and injuring two Palestinians, including a 10-year-old child.

Instead of detaining the settlers, Israeli forces arrested two Palestinian residents of the same town.

Local sources reported further attacks on Saturday evening, including damage to a water pipeline east of Tubas and an attempt to steal livestock from families east of Atuf.

On Sunday morning, settlers seized and vandalised property belonging to the Bedouin community of Khallet Sidra near Mikhmas, north of Jerusalem.

Later that afternoon, settlers were reported to have cut down electricity poles in the al-Arma area near Aqraba, south of Nablus.

Families flee amid escalating assaults

Hassan Mleihat, general supervisor of the al-Baydar Organisation, told The New Arab that 11 Palestinian families, around 60 people, from Khirbet Yarza have begun dismantling their homes with plans to leave the area east of Tubas, describing it as no longer safe due to relentless settler attacks.

Mleihat said families in Khirbet Yarza, a small and marginalised community in the northern West Bank, face increasingly harsh conditions.

Constant threats of land confiscation, limited access to basic services, and repeated harassment by settlers and soldiers have forced residents to abandon their homes.

He noted that this pattern has become common across many West Bank communities, stressing that such departures are not voluntary but the result of unbearable living conditions.

Military incursions compound Palestinian suffering

Alongside the rise in settler violence, Israeli military raids have intensified across the occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces conducted arrests in several areas, detaining three Palestinians from the Bethlehem governorate, six from Nablus and the al-Ain refugee camp west of the city, and several others during Saturday night raids in the Hebron governorate.

In Qusra, south of Nablus, Israeli forces stormed the area, detained a number of residents, and turned one house into a temporary military post.

On Saturday evening, Israeli soldiers raided Nabi Saleh, a village northwest of Ramallah, searching homes and stopping passing vehicles.