Man shot dead by troops amid clash between settlers, Palestinians in West Bank village
Khalil Salem Khalawi, 37, an Israeli citizen, was killed in Wadi Rahhal; IDF says Palestinians hurled stones at Israeli vehicles, prompting settlers to confront them
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
A Palestinian man was killed and three others were injured by Israeli forces as settlers clashed with locals in the West Bank village of Wadi Rahhal near Bethlehem late Monday, Palestinian health officials and the military said.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, the incident began after Palestinians hurled stones at Israeli vehicles on a highway in the area. Israeli settlers arrived at the village to confront the Palestinians and a clash erupted, according to the military.
According to Palestinian media, dozens of Israeli settlers entered the village and attacked residents.
The Palestinian Authority health ministry said one man was killed and three were moderately wounded by “settlers’ gunfire” in the village.
However, the IDF later disputed this, saying that troops who were dispatched to the scene opened fire, hitting several Palestinians amid the clash.
The slain man was named as Khalil Salem Khalawi, 37, although some reports said his surname was Ziadeh. He was an Israeli citizen but lived in the West Bank Palestinian village.
الشهيد خليل سالم زيادة الذي ارتقى برصاص مستوطنين خلال الهجوم على بلدة وادي رحال جنوب بيت لحم pic.twitter.com/36XDkTeVjl
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The IDF said it is aware that a man was shot dead amid the incident and three others were wounded.
The Israeli military launched an investigation into the conduct of the troops, while police were also investigating the clash between the civilians and settlers.
The shooting was carried out by members of the IDF’s so-called area defense force.
Local security teams in West Bank settlements have been bolstered with IDF reservists — mostly locals — amid heightened tensions in recent months. The units are known as “area defense,” or by its Hebrew acronym Hagmar.
عصابات المستوطنين خلال مهاجمة بلدة وادي رحال جنوبي بيت لحم pic.twitter.com/l5j50RJggA
— القسطل الإخباري (@AlQastalps) August 26, 2024
Settler violence spiked after the October 7 massacre carried out by the Hamas terror group in southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage, but violence was already on the rise before then, according to watchdogs.
Israeli authorities rarely arrest Jewish perpetrators in such attacks. Rights groups lament that convictions are even more unusual and that the vast majority of charges in such attacks are dropped.
Also Monday night, the IDF carried out a drone strike in the Nur Shams camp near Tulkarem, with the Palestinian Authority health ministry reporting five people were killed.
The airstrike and the alleged rioting came as IDF troops carried out searches around the Tapuah Junction in the north-central West Bank after reports of a suspected kidnapping, which the military officially ruled out hours later.
Since October 7, troops have arrested some 4,850 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,960 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 650 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.
There have also been several cases of settlers killing Palestinians in the past 10 months, some of which are still under investigation.
During the same period, 27 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another five members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.
