Palestinians say man shot in clashes with settlers as West Bank tensions flare
Several reported injured as Israelis accused of attacking West Bank villages near Nablus, Ramallah and Bethelehem amid spate of alleged revenge raids following deadly terror attack
Palestinian authorities said a man was shot in the foot and several others were injured as settlers carried out attacks in three Palestinian towns Saturday, the latest in a rash of alleged revenge actions following a deadly terror attack last week.
The Israeli military confirmed that it had responded to violence in two of the incidents while declining to assign blame for what I described as a “disturbance” and “confrontation.”
According to official Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa, citing the mayor of Yatma, the man was shot by an Israeli soldier as Palestinians from the village attempted to fend off an attack on homesteads by settlers.
Unverified footage posted to social media appeared to show settlers and Palestinian youths throwing rocks at each other in Yatma.
The IDF also said that after receiving reports of “a violent confrontation” in Yatma, “IDF and Border Police forces arrived at the village within minutes” and broke up the disturbance.
The military also said it was aware of the report that a Palestinian was injured by gunfire at the scene, and said that “the details of the incident are under investigation.”
Israeli settlers mobs storm the village of Yatma in Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, and attacked Palestinians in the area. pic.twitter.com/WLaXriHjdU
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) January 11, 2025
Wafa also reported several injuries to Palestinians during a clash with settlers and Palestinian civilians in the town of Turmus Ayya, near Ramallah.
The military said that the clash in Turmus Ayya involved “mutual stone-throwing.”
“IDF and Border Police forces arrived at the village within minutes of receiving the report, used crowd-dispersal measures, and dispersed the violent disturbance,” the IDF said.
כ-50 מתנחלים, חלקם חמושים באלות, ירדו לכפר הפלסטיני תורמוסעיא ויידו אבנים לעברו, כ-70 פלסטינים יידו לעברם אבנים וזיקוקים – לא ידוע על נפגעים; כוח צה''ל הגיע למקום והפסיק את יידוי האבנים, אין עצורים@Doron_Kadosh pic.twitter.com/gDre08Gn3c
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) January 11, 2025
On Saturday night, the local Fatah party chief for the village of Kisan reported that some 30 settlers attacked sheepherders near the village, burning tents and damaging equipment for livestock.
The attacks were the latest in a string of incidents that have seen settlers allegedly attack Palestinians in revenge for a shooting last week in which Palestinian terrorists opened fire on Israeli vehicles passing through the West Bank village of al-Funduq, killing two elderly women and an off-duty cop and wounding at least eight others.
Several Palestinian villages throughout the West Bank have been attacked in recent days, including al-Funduq, Hajja, Turmusaya and Immatain, according to the Yesh Din organization, which tracks such incidents.
Overnight Thursday, settlers were reported to have raided the village of Khirbet Abu Falah northeast of Ramallah.
Footage showed a building used by farmers on the outskirts of the village going up in flames.
The words “Revenge” and “Funduq” were graffitied in Hebrew on the outer wall of the building with a Star of David, apparently referencing the area where the deadly shooting took place this week.
Other footage from recent attacks have shown cars allegedly doused by settlers going up in flames.
No arrests have been made in connection with any of the alleged settler attacks.
Settler violence against Palestinians has soared since the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, and security forces have been accused of turning a blind eye to the attacks.
Prosecution in such cases is exceedingly rare, leading several Western countries to begin sanctioning Israeli extremists in the West Bank last year.
The Department for Internal Police Investigations (DIPI) announced late last month that it is investigating a senior police officer on the suspicion that he deliberately refused to investigate incidents of suspected Jewish nationalist attacks in the West Bank, ostensibly to advance his position in the police force.
Meanwhile, High Court justices on Monday impatiently demanded answers for the police’s failure to curb settler violence in the southern West Bank.
Israel has long struggled to deal with settler violence successfully but observers say the problem has intensified since far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir became minister in charge of the police two years ago.
Before entering politics, Ben Gvir dismissed settler violence and defended Israelis allegedly involved in such attacks.
