While the world has focused on the war in Gaza since the Hamas terror group’s devastating attack on Israel, tensions have increased in the West Bank, where 55 Palestinians were killed last week in clashes with Israeli troops, raids and attacks by Jewish settlers, according to Information from the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian Authority.
UN monitors said it was the deadliest week for Palestinians in the West Bank since at least 2005.
Since Hamas’ mass invasion of southern Israel, in which terrorists killed over 1,300 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped around 150 to 200, Israeli forces have maintained a tight grip on the West Bank, closing crossings into the area and checkpoints between cities, we say , aim to prevent attacks.
There have been several clashes between IDF troops and Palestinians in the West Bank in recent days, with the army reporting at least 10 attempted terrorist attacks.
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Friday was a particularly deadly day, with 16 Palestinians killed in separate incidents in the West Bank, according to the PA. Police said four of them were shot dead by officers after they detonated explosives, apparently in an attempt to breach the security barrier in the West Bank.
The military said it had arrested 220 people in raids across the West Bank since last weekend’s attack, including 130 Hamas operatives. Hamas terrorists have a presence in the West Bank but operate largely underground.
The renewed crackdown comes as Israel is concerned that the conflict could escalate into a multi-front war, particularly over the possibility that the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah joins the fight.
But Palestinians claim recent Israeli actions in the West Bank have only further blurred the line between security forces and radical, violent settlers. Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right settler with a long history of anti-Arab incitement, responded to the Hamas attack by distributing more weapons to the settler population and abandoning settler security.
Damage was found to the security barrier in the West Bank near the Nitsanei HaShalom industrial zone, October 13, 2023. (Israeli Police)
In a statement following the Hamas massacres in southern Israel, he said his office was distributing 10,000 firearms as well as riot gear, body armor and helmets to Israeli civilians – with a particular focus on residents of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
“We will change the world so that settlements are protected,” he said. “I have ordered the massive arming of the civilian standby units to protect the settlements and cities.”
On Friday, a video showed a settler walking into the southern West Bank village of Al-Tuwani with an assault rifle and shooting a Palestinian at close range.
Two days earlier, the PA reported that settlers shot three Palestinians in the village of Qusra near the northern West Bank city of Nablus. According to the PA Department of Health, settlers attacked her funeral on Thursday and killed two other men. Video footage showed the settlers turning their cars into the funeral procession before stopping and opening fire.
On Thursday, settlers arrived in Wadi Seeq, a small Bedouin village of about 200 people in the central West Bank, while Palestinians there packed their belongings. Due to the increasing threat, they had already moved all women, children and livestock to a safer area in the last few days, said a resident of the village. Witnesses said the settlers opened fire, wounding three Palestinians and driving the rest out of the village.
An image appearing to show masked settlers near the West Bank village of Qusra, October 11, 2023. (Screenshot, X used under Section 27a of the Copyright Law)
Abdelrahman Kaabni, chairman of the Wadi Seeq village council, said soldiers and police were involved in the attack, beating and detaining residents. When Wadi Seeq villagers fled settler violence, they left behind cisterns, livestock, solar panels and two vehicles. “The settlers took everything and now they are occupying our houses,” said Kaabni.
Wadi Seeq is the sixth Bedouin village to abandon operations in the last year in response to a rise in settler attacks. Many more are at risk of outright displacement, according to the West Bank Protection Consortium, a coalition of aid organizations and donor countries including the European Union that support Palestinian communities.
Neither COGAT, the Israeli defense agency responsible for civil affairs, nor the Israeli military responded to requests for comment. In the past, authorities said troops opened fire only in response to threats or to disperse violent protests and that soldiers protected Palestinians from settler attacks.
The UN said last month that 1,100 Palestinians were displaced by settler violence last year, an unprecedented number. In the last few days alone, about 200 to 300 Palestinians have been displaced in Wadi Seeq and other areas, the consortium said – often by armed settlers.
“They are leaving now because they feel completely unprotected. They are so afraid of the settlers who came and threatened them,” said Allegra Pacheco, the head of the consortium.
A masked Palestinian takes cover near burning tires during clashes with Israeli forces following a solidarity rally with Gaza by supporters of Fatah and the Hamas terror group in the West Bank city of Hebron, October 13, 2023 (Hazem Bader/AFP)
Most attacks come from settler outposts established without government approval but protected by the Israeli army. Over 500,000 Jewish settlers live in nearly 150 settlements across the West Bank, where about 2.5 million Palestinians live. The international community largely views settlements as illegal and a major obstacle to peace. Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Palestinians want the areas for their future state.
On Saturday, Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari appeared to call on the settlers to stand down, saying: “Responsibility for security in the settlements and on the streets lies solely with the army.”
But messages continued to circulate in WhatsApp groups that Jewish settlers had set up since the start of the war to coordinate operations in the West Bank. A description of a chat group with over 800 participants urged residents to prepare for “the possibility of mobilization for a joint operation with security forces to immediately destroy terrorist homes.”
The message urged residents to “eliminate” any Palestinian who approaches a settlement.
“It is clear from the stories pouring in from Gaza that we cannot rely on the army alone to protect us in a time of chaos,” it said. “Are you ready for war?”