2 troops wounded by bomb thrown in West Bank; reports of settler attacks on Palestinians
IDF deploys additional soldiers to Tubas following incident; Palestinian couple said wounded by settlers near Hebron, olive harvesters attacked in 2 locations, vehicles set alight
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEmanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Two Israeli soldiers were moderately wounded by an explosive device hurled at them by a Palestinian during a military operation in the West Bank town of Tubas on Saturday evening, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The IDF said the incident took place during “offensive activity” in the area. The assailant who hurled the bomb at the troops apparently fled.
The two soldiers were taken to a hospital and their families were notified, the army added.
Following the incident, the IDF deployed additional forces to Tubas and blocked the entrances to the town with earth barriers, Palestinian media reported.
On Sunday morning, Palestinian media reported that the IDF blew up an apartment in the town amid the raid.
The IDF did not immediately provide further details.
#شاهد| قوات الاحتلال تفجر شقة في مبنى سكني بمدينة طوباس شمال الضفة الغربية، وسط استمرار العدوان على المدينة منذ ساعات الصباح الأولى. pic.twitter.com/rJpBWyyAzD
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) October 19, 2025
Separately over the weekend, the IDF said it received reports of gunfire near the West Bank settlement of Evyatar late Friday, with no injuries or damage caused.
Troops were dispatched to the scene, began searches in the area, and imposed closures on several nearby Palestinian villages, the military added.
#شاهد | المدخل الجنوبي لمدينة طوباس لا زال مغلق بسواتر ترابيه pic.twitter.com/chCr10kbuV
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) October 19, 2025
Several attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians were also reported in the West Bank over the weekend.
The official Palestinian Authority news outlet WAFA reported that a Palestinian couple was wounded on Saturday evening in an assault by settlers south of Hebron.
WAFA also reported that Israelis from the settlement of Itamar attacked Palestinian olive harvesters near the village of Rujeib, near Nablus, on Sunday morning.
Palestinian olive pickers were also attacked by settlers in the central West Bank town of Turmus Ayya, and the attackers set fire to two cars, WAFA reported.
In another incident, settlers set fire to several cars at a vehicle repair shop in the village of Jab’a, near Bethlehem, early Sunday, according to WAFA.
There were no reports of arrests, which are rare in the near-daily instances of reported settler violence.
Violence has risen in the West Bank since the Gaza war started on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
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