Four Palestinians killed in Tell as settler incursion sparks Israeli military sweep across the West Bank

The deadly clash in Tell

At about 6:30 on 24 July, armed settlers, protected by Israeli troops, entered the eastern part of Tell, a village south of Nablus. They attacked several homes and shot an unarmed Palestinian, wounding him in the thigh. The group then withdrew to a nearby military outpost. At 8:00, the settlers launched a second incursion into the northwestern area; villagers came out to push them back.

At exactly 6:30, an incursion was reported in the eastern zone by hordes of armed settlers, under the protection of the Israeli army. They attacked several homes and opened fire on unarmed Palestinian civilians, wounding a young man in the thigh. The army was there, in the same place, behind the settlers and doing nothing.

During the confrontation, a Palestinian man named Faruk grabbed a settler's rifle and shot one of the attackers. Video footage shows the settler pulling a pistol from a pocket moments before the fatal shot. In the chaos, four Palestinians – Farooq, Ibrahim, Jawad and Omran, all brothers and cousins from the same family – were killed. One Israeli settler, the security chief of the adjacent Gilad Farm settlement, died from his own weapon. An IDF soldier who arrived on the scene was also shot dead.

Israeli military crackdown

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened an emergency security meeting with Defence Minister Israel Katz, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, Shin Bet director David Zini and other top officials. He ordered a sweeping operation "against the terrorists and their masterminds". The IDF placed Nablus and surrounding villages, including Beita, Tell and Burin, under blockade and sent two additional battalions to the area, raising the troop presence to 24 battalions. Soldiers raided a hospital in Nablus to arrest wounded Palestinians from the Tell firefight. Weekend leave for personnel was cancelled.

The military operation quickly extended across the West Bank. By 25 July, Israeli forces had raided more than 70 homes and arrested at least 56 Palestinians. Wafa reported the following arrest figures: 30 in Tell, 4 in Ramallah, 5 in Jenin, 8 in Hebron, 3 in Bethlehem, 5 in Tulkarm and 1 in Al‑Eizariya near Jerusalem. Troops also entered the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp, the town of Qalqilya, Kobar village and Kafr Aqab, firing tear gas into homes in Qaryut.

Settler violence spreads

While the army moved through Palestinian neighbourhoods, settler gangs attacked several villages. In Sarra, south‑west of Nablus, dozens of settlers assaulted three residents and set fire to at least six houses and five cars, the mayor, Nu’man Abdullah, told the Wafa news agency. The Red Crescent said it transported three wounded to hospital. All day, settlers from nearby outposts also raided Farata, Jit and other villages, calling for revenge and attacking residents, causing further injuries. In Abu Njeim, south‑east of Bethlehem, settlers stormed the village, fired on vehicles, blocked a road and vandalised a car; no injuries were reported there. In Urif, south of Nablus, settlers attacked homes.

"A true aggression" under international silence

The governor of Nablus, Ghassan Daghlas, told Al Jazeera that six Palestinians had been killed and dozens wounded or arrested in the preceding two days. He described the events as a "true aggression", blaming a "prolonged international silence" for emboldening the attacks. In about 70 Palestinian villages across the West Bank, residents began forming armed self‑defence committees, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported, as fear of further incursions mounted.