Settlers reportedly beat Palestinian woman, raid several West Bank towns

Woman taken for medical treatment, her sons said detained by IDF; Turmus Ayya, home to large population of Palestinian Americans, raided twice in one day; no arrests reported

By ToI Staff, Nurit Yohanan and Jeremy Sharon 19 April 2026, 12:48 am
Footage shows a car burning, and graffiti reading Revenge on a wall, following a reported settler attack in the Palestinian West Bank village of Turmus Ayya, April 18, 2026. (Screenshots/X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Israeli settlers raided a series of Palestinian towns in the central West Bank on Saturday, causing injuries, and a Palestinian woman was beaten by settlers in the south of the territory, according to Palestinian reports.

The incidents are the latest in a rash of settler violence that has surged in recent months and escalated since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war with Iran, according to a tally by a human rights organization.

The Palestinian woman was beaten by settlers in the village of Sa’ir, near Hebron, Wafa, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, reported on Saturday. According to the report, settlers beat and injured residents who were working their farmland.

As the woman was taken for medical treatment, Israeli forces detained three of her sons, WAFA said. The IDF had not issued a response as of midnight on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, Israeli settlers raided several Palestinian villages, hurling stones at residents and causing injuries. They fled without anyone being arrested, according to footage from the scenes and Palestinian media.

In Ein Siniya, north of Ramallah, a group of settlers was filmed hurling stones at homes. Wafa reported that one resident was assaulted and then hospitalized with severe injuries.

Additional settler raids reportedly unfolded in the nearby central West Bank village of Abu Falah. Residents posted messages on social media pleading for assistance from their neighbors as the attack unfolded, with Palestinians having little means of protection against such attacks.

When Israeli troops arrived at Abu Falah, they arrested residents rather than the assailants, who had already managed to return to neighboring illegal outposts. The IDF said it was looking into the matter, but did not provide further information as of Saturday evening.

Two separate attacks took place in the town of Turmus Ayya in the central West Bank, which has a large population of American citizens. In the latter attack, roughly 20 masked settlers raided the village, torching at least one building and vandalizing property.

The words “Revenge” and “Regards from Abu Falah” were found spray-painted in Hebrew on the wall of a building, an apparent reference to a nearby Palestinian village that has been targeted by several settler attacks in recent weeks. No injuries or arrests were reported.

Such attacks take place on a daily basis throughout the West Bank, and arrests and prosecutions of the assailants are rare. There is typically a particular uptick on Shabbat, even though the attackers are often Orthodox Jews, and various aspects of such attacks violate Jewish law.

During the recent war with Iran, which began on February 28 and entered a truce on April 8, there were 378 incidents of extremist settler violence against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank, according to a tally by Yesh Din, a left-wing human rights organization.

The attacks were staged in 148 Palestinian communities and dwellings across the territory, said Yesh Din, which opposes the settlement movement and monitors settler violence.

Eight Palestinians were shot and killed, and 200 were injured by extremist settlers during the period of the Iran war, the group added.

On March 22, in an effort to quell the intense settler violence against Palestinian civilians, the IDF diverted a battalion to the West Bank that had been slated to enter Lebanon. Nevertheless, extremists carried out over 120 further incidents of settler violence from that date until the end of the war, according to Yesh Din’s data.

The organization’s figures are based on cross-referenced public statements and reports on settler violence from different sources.

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