Israeli settlers kill four Palestinians in West Bank attack
Israeli settlers killed four Palestinians during an attack on a village in the occupied West Bank on Friday, during which a settler was also shot dead.
According to eyewitnesses, a group of armed settlers stormed homes and farmland on the outskirts of Tel, southwest of Nablus, early in the morning.
Residents gathered to repel the attack, Mahmoud al-Hindi, a resident of the village, told Middle East Eye.
The confrontation escalated into physical clashes between unarmed Palestinians on one side and rifle-wielding settlers and Israeli soldiers on the other.
Israeli troops and settlement guards then opened fire on a group of Palestinians, according to Hindi.
The Palestinian health ministry said four men were killed and four others wounded, most of them shot in the upper body. Three of the wounded are in a critical condition.
The dead were identified as brothers Ibrahim Hussein Ali Saifi and Jawad Hussein Ali Saifi, their cousin Farouq Adnan Ali Saifi, and their relative Imran Ahmed Ali Saifi.
"This area often sees confrontations after settlers attack in an attempt to seize land, but today was the most violent," Hindi said.
Footage documents an Israeli settler attack on Palestinians in Till village, southwest of Nablus, carried out under the protection of Israeli occupation forces.
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 24, 2026
The settlers opened fire on Palestinians, killing four of them and injuring others. pic.twitter.com/S41Z8QsCTQ
Israeli media reported that a settlement security guard was also killed by gunfire and that three other settlers were wounded.
The Israeli army said the settlers had been on a "hike" in the area when clashes broke out with Palestinian residents.
It said the settlers fired warning shots before troops arrived and attempted to disperse the confrontation.
According to the army, a Palestinian seized a weapon from a settlement guard, killing him and wounding three others.
It said a soldier then shot the Palestinian dead, adding that the deaths of the three other Palestinians were under investigation.
The governor of Nablus, Ghassan Daghlas, rejected the Israeli account in an interview with Al Araby TV, saying settlers had stormed the village, attempted to set homes on fire and opened fire on residents who confronted the attack.
Witnesses told MEE that after the shooting, Israeli forces escorted the settlers out of the village before raiding it, closing military checkpoints leading to Nablus and tightening security across the area.
Calls for revenge
Hours after the shooting, Israeli settlers attacked several Palestinian villages near Nablus and Qalqilya, burning cars and farmland and assaulting residents, according to local reports.
Settlers also took to social media to call for revenge and further attacks on Palestinians.
The Israeli army said it was preparing for retaliatory settler attacks across the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in a settlement near Nablus, called for harsh military action.
'For every Jew killed, the enemy must bear the loss of land and homes'
- Itamar Ben Gvir, Israeli national security minister
"The villages of Tel, Burin and Beit Furik should become like the refugee camps in Nablus and Tulkarm," he said, referring to the widespread destruction of the camps by Israeli forces in 2025.
Smotrich also said he would ask Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approve a new settlement near the site of the shooting.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who lives in a settlement in Hebron, said Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank should resemble Beit Hanoun, the northern Gaza town that has been almost entirely destroyed by Israel during the genocide.
“For every Jew killed, the enemy must bear the loss of land and homes,” Ben Gvir added.
Netanyahu's office said the prime minister had met the defence minister and army chief to discuss Israel's response to what it described as the Nablus "attack".
"We will act forcefully against the terrorists and those who send them, and we will not allow terrorism to resurface in the West Bank," Netanyahu said.
The army later announced it was reinforcing its presence across the occupied West Bank by deploying five additional companies.
Deadly settler violence
Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh said he had held urgent talks with several countries, urging them to protect Palestinians from what he described as settler and Israeli army "terrorism".
The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) said the killings in Tel reflected an "official Israeli policy" of forced displacement carried out jointly by the military and settler groups.
Settler violence against Palestinians has long been a feature of life in the occupied West Bank, but it has escalated sharply since the war in Gaza began in October 2023.
Settlers now carry out near-daily attacks on Palestinian communities, including arson, vandalism, assaults and forced displacement. They are often under the protection of Israeli forces.
On Sunday, two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire during an army-backed settler attack on the town of Deir Jarir, northeast of Ramallah.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, at least 87 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank in 2026, including 21 killed by settlers.
The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said deadly settler violence has risen each year since 2023.
Eleven Palestinians were killed by settlers in 2024, rising to 14 in 2025 and at least 21 so far this year.
The commission said most of the victims were shot by settlers, while others died after physical assaults, tear gas inhalation or medical emergencies during attacks, underscoring what it described as the growing scale and intensity of settler violence.