A Palestinian man has been killed and others seriously injured in separate settler attacks in the occupied West Bank.
Locals report that several new outposts – unauthorized clusters of settler homes – have been erected in areas where the Palestinian Authority is intended to have full control.
Settler violence has surged in the West Bank since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran at the end of February.
Mohammad al-Malhi was shot in the head by settlers who had established an outpost on his family's land near Bethlehem, marking him as the seventh Palestinian victim during this recent period of violence.
His family indicated that Israeli soldiers had previously dismantled the outpost, but settlers returned to rebuild it, leading to the fatal shooting.
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), a clash occurred between settlers and Palestinians, resulting in one death and three injuries.
Notably, video footage circulating on social media captured a separate attack that left a 75-year-old man bloodied after settlers raided his home in Tayasir, near Tubas.
This wave of violence is part of a troubling trend that escalated during the earlier Gaza war triggered by Hamas-led attacks in October 2023, with a corresponding increase in settlement activity approved by the Israeli government. Reports indicate this week, the security cabinet retroactively legalized 30 outposts across the West Bank.
Israel has constructed approximately 160 settlements housing around 700,000 Jews since occupying the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967, areas Palestinians aspire to claim for a future state. Alongside them, around 3.3 million Palestinians live under conditions of continued conflict and insecurity.
