Palestinian man and teen shot dead in separate IDF altercations, as West Bank roils
Suspect stabbed 2 soldiers during Silwad raid before being neutralized; troops use live-fire on Hebron rock-throwers; Palestinian father, daughter arrested after settlers lay claim to their sheep
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
A Palestinian man and a teenager were shot dead in separate altercations with Israeli troops in the West Bank on Wednesday, while another settler attack was reported in the Jordan Valley.
The first incident took place in the central West Bank village of Silwad where the Israel Defense Forces were conducting a counterterrorism raid.
Troops entered a building where several Palestinians were residing, one of whom physically assaulted the troops while another stabbed them, the IDF said.
“The troops responded with fire,” the military said, adding that the suspect who stabbed the soldiers was killed and the second was “neutralized and arrested by the forces.”
The two injured troops were taken to a hospital in light condition, and their families were notified, the IDF said.
The Palestinian Authority’s General Authority for Civilian Affairs identified the slain man as Rawhi Hammad, 37, and said Israel was refusing to release his body. The PA office said Hammad’s brother was the individual arrested in the incident.
صورة ثانية للشهيد عبد الحليم روحي حماد منذ عملية الطعن التي أسفرت عن إصابة جنديين من جيش الاحتلال في بلدة سلواد شمال شرق رام الله pic.twitter.com/NYpZx0gsfU
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) April 29, 2026
Hours later, the PA Health Ministry said Ibrahim Abdel Fattah Al-Khayyat, 16, was “killed by gunfire from the occupation army in Hebron.”
The PA’s official news agency WAFA reported that Khayyat was hit in the stomach and three other Palestinians were wounded by the IDF gunfire in Hebron. Khayyat was declared dead at Hebron’s Palestinian Red Crescent Specialized Hospital and was buried in the city on Thursday, according to Palestinian media.
The IDF said later Wednesday that troops operating in Hebron had opened fire on “several terrorists throwing stones at the force.”
The statement said “hits were identified” but did not mention reports that anyone was killed. No Israeli troops were wounded in the incident, the military added.
Rights groups pan the IDF’s regular use of live fire to target Palestinian stone-throwers, something it does not do when the suspects are Israeli settlers.
#عاجل | مستشفى الهلال الأحمر التخصصي في الخليل يعلن عن استشهاد الشاب إبراهيم عبد الفتاح محمد الخياط (16 عاماً)، متأثراً بإصابته برصاص قوات الاحتلال الإسرائيلي، حيث أُصيب في الصدر والبطن. pic.twitter.com/CcmtULY2v3
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) April 29, 2026
Palestinian father and daughter arrested after settlers lay claim to their sheep
Separately on Wednesday, a 60-year-old herder and his daughter were detained by the IDF in the southern West Bank’s Masafer Yatta region, after settlers accused the Palestinians of stealing their sheep.
Video footage taken by civil rights activists in Maghayir al ‘Abeed showed the father handcuffed and blindfolded as an IDF soldier led him away.
Salaam Adra, one of the Palestinian civil rights activists at the scene, said a soldier also beat a resident of Maghayir al ‘Abeed and one of the Palestinian activists during the incident.
Shehadeh Mukhamrah, 60, is handcuffed and blindfolded as an IDF soldier detains him in the hamlet of Maghayir al ‘Abeed in the Masafer Yatta region of the southern West Bank, April 29, 2026. (Courtesy of Peace Bearer)
Settlers from nearby illegal outposts had arrived at the hamlet earlier in the day, claimed their sheep got lost and then accused the 60-year-old herder of taking their livestock, the activists said.
In response to a query, the IDF said soldiers came to the area after receiving a report “about several Palestinians who stole a herd of livestock from an Israeli citizen.”
“When they arrived, the forces arrested several Palestinian suspects in the area, who were referred to the Israel Police,” the military said, adding that it was unfamiliar with “allegations of violence by IDF fighters” during the incident.
Police also arrived at Maghayir al ‘Abeed and remained for several hours on Wednesday following the settlers’ allegation that the Palestinians had stolen livestock.
A police spokesperson said officers were taking pictures of the sheep and would bring in a veterinary service to determine the livestock’s ownership. No sheep had been removed from the village up to that point, the spokesperson said.
Theft of Palestinian livestock by settler extremists has become increasingly common in recent years and has been documented in video footage on numerous occasions, including with the cooperation of IDF soldiers and in the Masafer Yatta region.
Civil rights activists and legal representatives for Palestinian herding communities have repeatedly reported efforts by settler extremists to cast doubt on ownership of livestock as part of their efforts to steal sheep, goats, and cattle.
IDF battalion that detained, allegedly assaulted CNN crew returns to West Bank
Also this week, a reservist battalion that was removed from the West Bank following an incident last month in which its soldiers detained and allegedly assaulted a CNN crew returned to the territory.
In late March, the military said that the Menashe Regional Brigade’s 941st “Netzah Israel” Battalion — a reserve unit made up mostly of several hundred former soldiers of the Kfir Brigade’s ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda Battalion — was sent for a training and learning seminar aimed at “strengthening its professional and ethical foundations.”
The unit has not yet been fully redeployed to the West Bank but is currently serving as a “reserve force” for various missions within the Central Command.
Earlier this week, the battalion conducted a raid in the Qalandia refugee camp, and it is expected to conduct additional missions in the coming days, according to Army Radio.
The battalion will only return to full activity in the West Bank with the approval of Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, the military said.
Emaciated Palestinian journalist released without charge after yearlong administrative detention
On Thursday, Palestinian journalist Ali Samoudi was released after a full year in Israeli administrative detention.
A well-known figure among Palestinians in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, who has ties with Israeli journalists, never ended up being charged with a crime, despite being held for so long, Palestinian media reports.
Media reports said Samoudi was suspected of transferring funds to Islamic Jihad, though, given that he was never charged, those allegations appear to have been thin.
In footage following his release, Samoudi said he lost half of his body weight — 60 kilograms — while in prison.
Palestinian journalist Ali al-Samoudi, 59-year-old, abducted on April 29, 2025, by the Israeli army from Jenin in the West Bank and held in administrative detention without charge or trial for one year, was released today. pic.twitter.com/kSi56RtmNR
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) April 30, 2026
A recent report from Israel’s own Public Defender’s Office determined that Palestinian security detainees held in Israeli prisons have suffered from severe and systematic violence from prison guards, deprivation of food, and medical neglect, while also having been subjected to unsanitary conditions that caused and exacerbated outbreaks of disease in the prisons.
Thousands of Palestinians are currently in administrative detention, a legal mechanism that allows Israeli authorities to indefinitely keep a suspect in custody without charge, based on covert intelligence information.
The practice is so controversial that Defense Minister Israel Katz barred its use against Jewish suspects last year. It is now only employed against Palestinians and a small number of Arab Israelis, leading to charges of discrimination by Israeli authorities.
The Israel Prisons Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why Samoudi was held for so long, given that he was never charged.
The Times of Israel Community.