2 Palestinians killed after settlers said to ambush funeral in West Bank

The Palestinian Authority health ministry said on Thursday that two Palestinians were killed after Israeli settlers opened fire on a funeral procession near the West Bank town of Qusra, south of Nablus.

According to the Palestinian Authority’s WAFA news agency, ambulances were carrying the bodies of four Palestinians who were shot dead a day earlier, reportedly also by Israeli settlers, when settlers arrived at the scene and attempted to halt the funeral procession.

One of the ambulance drivers was quoted as saying by Haaretz that “the settlers were waiting there. They blocked the gate, started firing on us and other people who had come for the funeral.”

The Palestinian Authority health ministry named the two people killed on Thursday as father and son Ibrahim Wadi, 62, and Ahmad Wadi, 25.

WAFA claimed that both “settlers and soldiers opened fire at the participants in the funeral.”

The IDF said that a number of Palestinian casualties were reported following clashes between settlers and Palestinians in the village where the funeral was about to take place, and that the incident is under investigation.

The Ministry condemns the heinous crime committed by the occupation forces today by firing live bullets at the funeral procession of the martyrs of the village of #Qusra and the ambulances carrying them, resulting in the #martyrdom of a civilian and his son. Also, the attacks by… pic.twitter.com/yCDp4YGZZE

— State of Palestine – MFA ???????????????? (@pmofa) October 12, 2023

On Wednesday, the Palestinian Authority health ministry said that three Palestinians were killed in the West Bank village of Qusra. A fourth later died of his wounds.

A video shared by Palestinian media outlets showed a number of apparently masked settlers, some of them armed, as gunfire rang out in the area. WAFA reported that four Palestinians were shot with live fire and nine more were injured in the incident.

It said that settlers from the Esh Kodesh outpost, near Shiloh, attacked Qusra villagers who confronted them.

In response to a query by The Times of Israel, a military spokesperson said the army was aware of an apparent incident involving gunfire and was looking into the matter.

There have been repeated incidents over the past year of young settlers violently raiding villages in rampages that have led to a handful of Palestinian deaths, scores injured and significant property damage.

The assailants are rarely arrested, let alone prosecuted for their actions.

Israel is closely monitoring events in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and on its northern border five days into a war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip following the terror group’s shock assault on Israel on Saturday in which terrorists infiltrated into Israeli communities. As of Thursday, the toll stood at 1,300 dead, the vast majority of them civilians.