Two men shot dead by settlers in northern West Bank, Palestinian Authority says

Two Palestinian men were shot dead by settlers on Monday in the Palestinian village of Qaryut, south of Nablus in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry said.

The dead were identified as brothers Muhammad and Fahim Muammar, ages 52 and 47, respectively. The elder brother was shot in the head and the younger brother in the pelvis, the PA ministry said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that another three people were injured by the settler gunfire, including a 15-year-old boy who was shot in the shoulder.

In response to a query by The Times of Israel, the IDF said it dispatched troops to Qaryut following reports of “friction” between Palestinians and settlers.

The military said that it later received a report of two Palestinians killed by gunfire and several others wounded in the area.

“The identity of the shooter and the circumstances of the incident are under investigation,” the IDF said, adding that it “condemns and views this incident with great severity.”

“Upon completion of the initial investigation, decisions will be made regarding further handling,” the military added.

No arrests were immediately reported.

الشقيقان الشهيدان محمد وفهيم طه معمر اللذان ارتقيا برصاص مليشيات المستوطنين في قرية قريوت جنوب نابلس. pic.twitter.com/VA8ZEjO6W1

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) March 2, 2026

Footage published by Palestinian outlets showed some 10 settlers standing on a hill in the village, one of whom could be seen training an assault rifle on an off-camera target. Other footage showed Palestinians carrying a man as he bled from his head.

Separately, Red Crescent sources cited by WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, said an 18-year-old Palestinian was hospitalized after being shot in the leg by IDF troops in the Askar refugee camp east of Nablus. The IDF did not immediately comment.

Meanwhile, WAFA reported that Israeli forces arrested eight people in the area of Nablus and another 36 people, including nine minors, in other areas of the West Bank on Monday.

The death of the two brothers in Qaryut raises to three the number of Palestinians allegedly killed by settlers this year, and to 39 the number of Palestinians killed amid the sharp uptick in settler violence since the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, according to WAFA.

جيش الاحتلال يؤمن هجوم مليشيات المستوطنين ويواصل اقتحام قرية قريوت جنوب نابلس. pic.twitter.com/HkrgQalulI

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) March 2, 2026

Data published by the IDF and Shin Bet security agency in January showed a 27 percent rise in settler attacks in 2025 compared to the previous year.

In addition to the overall rise in settler attacks, 2025 also saw an increase in the number of serious incidents that included shootings, arson and other violent crimes, with 128 compared to 83 in 2024 and 54 in 2023, according to the data.

Extremist Jewish attacks, which now occur on a near-daily basis, largely go unchecked. Prosecutions are rare, and convictions are even rarer. Critics have accused the government, the most hard-right in Israel’s history, of shrugging off the attacks.

On Friday, two left-wing Israeli activists performing “protective presence” in the Nablus-area village of Qusra were airlifted to a hospital in Israel in moderate condition after settlers beat them with clubs. President Isaac Herzog condemned the attack as damaging to the reputation of Israel and the settler movement.

The High Court of Justice last week issued a conditional order against two senior IDF officers demanding they explain their failure to protect a group of Palestinian farmers in the Jordan Valley from harassment and violence by settlers.

On February 18, Palestinian-American teenager Nasrallah Abu Siam was shot dead during a settler attack in the central West Bank’s Mukhmas, but police reportedly launched an investigation only eight days later.