Israeli settlers shot dead two Palestinians and a third died from suffocation in the latest deadly incident in the occupied West Bank, with violence surging since the Gaza war began.
JERUSALEM: Three Palestinians were killed during an Israeli settler attack in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, according to Palestinian authorities and the Israeli military.
The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli settlers shot dead Thaer Faruq Hamayel, 24, and Farea Jawdat Hamayel, 57, in the town of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah.
Palestinian vice president Hussein al-Sheikh condemned the “brutal attack on innocent citizens” in a post on X, stating three were killed and seven others injured.
The Israeli military said forces were dispatched to Abu Falah “following a report of Palestinians being attacked by Israeli civilians near homes”.
Its statement confirmed that two Palestinians were killed by gunfire and another died from suffocation.
Major General Avi Bluth, head of the Israeli military in the West Bank, called the incident unacceptable.
“There will be zero tolerance for civilians who take the law into their own hands,” he said, adding that “these actions are dangerous, they do not represent the Jewish people or the State of Israel”.
This attack followed another deadly incident on Saturday, where Israeli settlers shot dead a Palestinian man and wounded his brother in the West Bank village of Wadi al-Rakhim.
Mohammad Rabai, head of the nearby Tuwani village council, told AFP that settlers entered homes and attacked the family of 27-year-old Amir Mohammad Shnaran, who later died.
The Israeli military said soldiers and police were dispatched after reports of a “violent confrontation” between Israelis and Palestinians, with an investigation underway.
Violence in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, has soared since the Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war in October 2023.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,043 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures.
At least 45 Israelis, including both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the same period, according to official Israeli figures.
The Sun Malaysia
