There have been deaths and injuries in new violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
July 23, 2026, 10:29 p.mJuly 23, 2026, 10:29 p.m
Israel’s army announced that the three suspected perpetrators were killed in two suspected attacks by Palestinians on an Israeli settler and a soldier. There were contradictory statements from the Israeli and Palestinian sides about the course of one incident.
Skirmishes broke out again between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank.Image: keystone
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, the three people killed were a 16-year-old teenager and two men aged 20 and 25.
An Israeli army statement said that in an incident near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, two Palestinians stabbed a settler who was trying to put out a fire. The Israeli was injured and taken to a clinic. Another settler is said to have killed both Palestinians.
Palestinian media reports said that Israeli settlers had set fire to fields in a Palestinian village. Palestinian residents opposed them. Israeli soldiers are said to have shot at them, seriously injuring two other Palestinians.
The information provided by both sides could not initially be independently verified.
Another incident in the north of the West Bank – soldier injured
In a second incident in the north of the West Bank, Israeli soldiers killed another suspected attacker, according to the army. The Palestinian is said to have stabbed and injured a soldier. According to Israeli sources, the incident occurred near a settlement not far from the city of Jenin.
The Islamist Hamas praised the alleged attacks
Israel conquered, among other things, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War in 1967. Today, around 700,000 Israeli settlers live there among three million Palestinians. The Palestinians claim the areas for their own state.
The situation there has worsened again since the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023 and the Gaza war that it triggered. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, around 1,100 Palestinians have since been killed in Israeli military operations, armed clashes and attacks in the West Bank.
There is also increased violence by radical Israeli settlers against Palestinians. The army is repeatedly accused of not taking decisive action against such attackers. There are few reports of settlers being held accountable after attacks. (sda/dpa)