Two Palestinians killed as Israeli settler and army attacks escalate in West Bank

Two Palestinians were killed on Monday in separate attacks involving the Israeli military and settlers, amid a surge in violence, demolitions and land seizures across the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that 17-year-old Jamil Hannani died from wounds sustained after Israeli soldiers opened fire on Sunday evening in the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus.

Earlier Monday, Ahmad Rabhi al-Atrash was shot dead by an Israeli settler near the northern entrance to Hebron.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its teams were prevented from reaching al-Atrash in the Ras al-Joura area, the delay contributing to his death.

"Occupation forces left him bleeding until he died," the organisation said, adding that soldiers later transferred his body to an unknown location after summoning his family for identification.

In a separate incident, Israeli forces demolished two agricultural structures in the town of Wadi Rahal, south of Bethlehem.

Hamdi Ziadeh, an activist with the Palestinian Commission Against the Wall and Settlements, told The New Arab's Arabic edition Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that troops began demolishing the buildings early Monday morning amid a "heavy military presence that prevented residents from approaching the site".

Elsewhere in the Bethlehem area, a group of settlers assaulted Palestinians herding their sheep west of the village of al-Rashayida.

"They tried to seize several of the animals by force before residents intervened and managed to repel them," said Hassan Mleihat, general supervisor of the al-Baidar Human Rights Organisation.

He said the attack occurred in the southern part of al-Rashayida, "an area that has recently witnessed repeated harassment and attempts by settlers to seize land".

Mleihat added that settlers also carried out a dawn attack on the outskirts of Jureish, south of Nablus, setting fire to a vehicle and writing racist slogans on nearby homes and property.

"The assault took place under the protection of Israeli occupation forces, who prevented residents from reaching the area to extinguish the fires," he said. "These incidents are part of a growing wave of organised settler violence against Palestinian villages and towns."

Meanwhile, Israeli forces on Monday blocked farmers from the city of Salfit from reaching their olive groves near the northern entrance to the city. Mleihat said the move came amid "continued restrictions on farmers during the harvest season".

He also reported that settlers began establishing a new outpost on Sunday on land belonging to the town of Anata, east of Jerusalem, as part of ongoing settlement expansion.

"Bulldozers and machinery carried out land-levelling operations to prepare for the placement of mobile homes, under the protection of the occupation army," he said.

Israeli forces also launched raids and arrests across several parts of the West Bank, detaining a number of Palestinians, including two women from Nablus.

Local sources identified them as I’tizaz Abd al-Moneim Judallah, widow of slain fighter Ibrahim Abu Hawash, and Dr. Manal al-Hajj Hamed Bardasawi, a lecturer at An-Najah National University.

The latest violence comes amid heightened settler attacks and expanded military operations across the West Bank, which Palestinian officials warn could ignite a broader confrontation.