At least 4 Palestinians killed in West Bank as Israeli settler violence rises: What to know

Israeli settlers attacked a number of Palestinian villages and towns in the West Bank Friday following a month of escalation. At least four Palestinians have been killed in settlers' attacks in June, according to local reports. 

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA documented at least 78 attacks involving Israeli settlers between May 27 and June 16, resulting in injuries, property damage or both. According to the UN organization, the attacks wounded 88 Palestinians, including three children. It also reported that 539 Palestinian-owned trees, mostly olive, and 33 vehicles were vandalized by the settlers.

Between October 2023 and June 12, 2025, at least 947 Palestinians, including 200 children, have been killed in Israeli military raids or settler attacks in the West Bank, according to OCHA. Of those figures, 141 Palestinians, including at least 27 children, have been killed since the beginning of this year alone.

What happened: Early on Friday, dozens of settlers clashed with local Palestinians as they tried to make an illegal visit to Joseph's Tomb, a site in the eastern part of the Palestinian city of Nablus considered holy by Jews, to perform Talmudic rituals. The trip was made without prior coordination with the Israeli military, which had to intervene to extract the settlers. 

Palestinian security sources told the official Palestinian WAFA news agency that settlers entered Nablus and vandalized public and private property, sparking clashes with local residents. No casualties were reported.

Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian homes in the village of Susiya Friday, in the Masafer Yatta area of southern Hebron governorate. A Palestinian woman was hospitalized as a result. 

WAFA reported that a group of settlers threw stones at Palestinian homes in the Masafer Yatta area early on Friday, injuring several Palestinians. No exact figures were provided.

Israel designated Masafer Yatta, a collection of Palestinian villages in the southern West Bank's Hebron governorate, as a military training zone in 1981, making it a target of state-backed settler attacks, according to Amnesty International, as Israel tries to forcibly transfer the population.

Another settler attack against two Palestinian shepherds was reported in Khirbet Al Hamma in the north of the Jordan Valley on Friday. In the village of Arab al-Malihat, northwest of Jericho, a group of settlers stole sheep owned by a Palestinian resident, WAFA reported.

On Wednesday night, dozens of settlers attacked the village of Kafr Malik, northeast of Ramallah. Videos circulating online showed masked settlers setting vehicles and homes on fire as gunfire could be heard.

Clashes with residents from the village and nearby towns ensued, resulting in the killing of three Palestinians, according to the Ramallah-based Health Ministry. At least seven other Palestinians were injured in the incident.

Reactions: The Palestinian Foreign Ministry denounced the attack, saying the settlers shot at residents inside their homes. In a statement, the ministry accused Israeli forces of preventing ambulance crews from reaching those injured for hours and blamed the far-right Israeli government for the ongoing attacks.

The statement accused "Israeli settler militias launched a terrorist assault on the village of Kafr Malik, setting fire to homes and vehicles and indiscriminately opening fire on residents." It went on, "The attack resulted in the killing of three Palestinian civilians inside their homes and the injury of many others."

Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh said the settlers were acting “under the protection of the Israeli army.”

“We call on the international community to urgently intervene to protect our Palestinian people,” he wrote on X.

The Israeli military said it dispatched forces to the scene after receiving reports of violence in Kafr Malik. In a statement, the military claimed that “terrorists” fired on and threw stones at the forces, who returned fire.

It said an Israeli officer was lightly wounded, while five Israelis were arrested on charges of arson. Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported Thursday that police released the five Israelis and that all charges against them were dropped.

As Palestinians were mourning in Kafr Malik Thursday, another group of settlers attacked the village of Turmus Ayya, also northeast of Ramallah in the central West Bank.

According to several local reports, dozens of settlers under the protection of Israeli forces attacked homes and property and set fields on fire. Palestinians and settlers were seen hurling stones at each other. WAFA said several injuries were reported, without providing numbers.

On June 19, a 48-year-old Palestinian man was killed when a group of settlers opened fire at residents in the village of Surif in the Hebron governorate. Another person was seriously injured, according to WAFA.

The UN said Thursday it was “gravely concerned” about the escalating violence by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.

“We reiterate once again our call on Israel to protect civilians in the West Bank and humanitarian personnel. International law must be respected and those responsible for these attacks must be held to account,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday.

Background: As settler attacks escalate, the occupied West Bank is seeing a rise in Israeli military raids. On Wednesday, a 15-year-old Palestinian boy identified as Rayan Tamer Hawshiya was fatally shot by Israeli forces in the town of Yamoun, northwest of Jenin, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and the Health Ministry.

A 14-year-old Palestinian boy was also shot dead by Israeli forces on Monday evening in Kafr Malik. Israeli police briefly held his body before handing it over to a Palestinian ambulance, according to local reports.

Earlier on June 2, Israeli forces shot and killed a 14-year-old who was standing at the entrance of the town of Sinjil, northeast of Ramallah, without warning, local media reported. The Israeli military acknowledged the incident, saying it shot at a Palestinian who threw rocks.

Since the Hamas-Israel war broke out in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, the Israeli military has been carrying out near-daily raids of West Bank towns and villages, coinciding with an uptick in settler violence including physical assaults and destruction of property.

Know more: The settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, both internationally recognized as occupied territory, are considered illegal under international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from transferring its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.

Israel disputes this interpretation and has continued to expand settlements over the years.

More recently, in late May, the Israeli government approved a plan to establish 22 new Jewish settlements in the northern West Bank.