Israeli Settlers Kill One Palestinian in West Bank, Israeli Military Kills Five Others

The settlers killed a Palestinian in Bethlehem and an Israeli strike targeted the Nur Shams refugee camp

A total of six Palestinians were killed by Israeli settler and military violence in the occupied West Bank on Monday.

Five Palestinians were killed by an Israeli military strike on a house in the Nur Shams refugee camp near the city of Tulkarm. The Israeli military claimed it targeted a militant camp, but the Palestinian news agency WAFA described the slain as civilians.

WAFA reported that two minors were killed in the Israeli strike: Adnan Jaber, 15, and Mohammed Ahmad ‘Elayyan, 16. The news agency said the killing brings the total number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli military and settlers since October 7, 2023, to 650.

Early Tuesday morning, the Palestinian Health Ministry said that Israeli settlers shot dead one Palestinian and wounded three others in Bethlehem.

Jewish settler violence in the West Bank has skyrocketed in the wake of October 7 as most of the attention has been on the slaughter in Gaza. Settlers have also been emboldened by the Israeli government, which includes extremist settlers who are committed to annexing the West Bank.

Settlers often attack and terrorize Palestinians with the goal of forcing them off their land with the tacit backing of the Israeli military, which rarely intervenes to stop the violence.

The settler violence has been so bad that some members of the Israeli government and security establishment have strongly denounced the attacks, including Ronen Bar, the head of the Israeli security agency Shin Bet.

Last week, Bar sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and focused his criticism on a group of Jewish extremists known as the Hilltop Youth. He said the actions of the settlers should be described as terrorism. “It isn’t crime because it’s the use of violence to create intimidation, to spread fear. That is terror.”

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.