Israeli settlers are exploiting military roadblocks imposed across the occupied West Bank since the outbreak of the Iran war to intensify attacks on Palestinian communities, with ambulances struggling to reach victims, rights groups and medics say.
At least six Palestinians have been killed by settlers in the West Bank since the United States and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran on 28 February, according to the Palestinian health ministry and Israeli rights group B’Tselem.
Israel’s military sealed many West Bank roads with iron gates and earthen mounds on the first day of the war and has largely shut crossings with Israel, saying the measures are precautionary while it conducts strikes on Iran and on Lebanese group Hezbollah, which has been firing missiles at Israel in solidarity with Tehran.
Palestinian residents of remote villages say the closures have left them dangerously exposed. Rights monitoring group Yesh Din has recorded more than 109 incidents of settler violence since the war began, including shootings, physical assaults, property damage and threats.
“Taking advantage of the war, armed settler militias, often operating with support from the army, continue to attack and harass Palestinian communities across the West Bank in an effort to force them out,” B’Tselem said.
In the most deadly single incident, more than 100 settlers descended on the village of Abu Falah, north of Ramallah, before dawn on Sunday. Residents said a local WhatsApp group mobilised men to defend the village after settlers gathered on its outskirts. Stone throwing escalated when armed settlers arrived and opened fire, killing two men. A third Palestinian subsequently died from the effects of teargas fired by Israeli troops deployed to the village during the attack, B’Tselem said.
Thaer Beirat was shot dead while trying to protect a house from the assault, according to a fellow defender. His widow, Malak, said: “Thaer loved life. I never expected he would die.”
The Israeli military said an investigation had been launched and that it condemns “violence of any kind”. It denied that medical teams were being obstructed, saying it enables freedom of movement for medics in the West Bank.
Ahmed Jibril, spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service, disputed that account. “There are obstacles — and even attacks by settlers and the military on the crews,” he said.
In three of the recorded settler shootings, the perpetrators were wearing Israeli army uniform, Yesh Din said. Israeli indictments for settler violence remain rare: of hundreds of cases documented since the Hamas-led attacks of October 2023, only 2% resulted in charges, according to Yesh Din figures published at the end of 2025.
The violence coincides with an accelerating settlement expansion drive. Right-wing minister Yossi Dagan announced on Wednesday the establishment of a new settlement overlooking Nablus, one of 22 approved by the Israeli government last May. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said the construction push is aimed at foreclosing the possibility of a Palestinian state.
The United Nations estimates that nearly 700 Palestinians were displaced by settler violence between the start of 2025 and early February 2026.
More than 700,000 settlers now live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank alongside over three million Palestinians, according to a 2024 EU report. Most of the world regards Israeli settlement activity as illegal under international law. Israel disputes this.
A spokesperson for the Yesha Council, which represents Jewish settlements, did not respond to a request for comment.
(Reuters)
