Since the beginning of the year, at least 81 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers, according to United Nations data. Of these fatalities, at least 23 resulted from settler‑related attacks.
During the same period, three Israelis—including both security‑force personnel and civilians—have been killed by Palestinians in the West Bank, the UN reports.
The Israeli military has drawn increasing criticism for its alleged involvement in settler attacks on Palestinians, for standing by during such incidents, and for failing to hold perpetrators accountable.
On Thursday, Israeli police announced the arrest of a 19‑year‑old settler suspected of taking part in an assault on the Palestinian village of Qusra on Saturday, marking the first such arrest in recent weeks.
Dozens of masked settlers raided the village, surrounding a house where Palestinians were trapped and pelting it with stones.
Israeli soldiers present at the scene reportedly detained the trapped Palestinians while allowing the settlers to depart unmolested. The military stated that its troops removed “rioters” and protected residents.
Since occupying the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war—a territory Palestinians seek for a future state alongside Gaza—Israel has established roughly 160 settlements accommodating about 700,000 Jews. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians reside in the vicinity.
These settlements are considered illegal under international law.
On Wednesday, Israeli forces demolished the Palestinian village of Khirbet al‑Tabban in the Masafer Yatta area.
Human‑rights organization B’Tselem reported that the village’s 70 inhabitants—28 of them children—received no prior warning before the demolition and were prohibited from removing their belongings.
The group characterized the demolition as the most substantial in Masafer Yatta since May 2025.
In the 1980s, the Israeli military designated roughly 3,000 hectares of the South Hebron Hills—including Masafer Yatta—as a restricted firing zone for training operations.
The military maintains that the Palestinian homes in the area were constructed illegally.
In 2022, the Israeli Supreme Court upheld a decision permitting the demolition of homes within the firing zone and the eviction of their residents, despite the residents’ argument that the action contravened international law and that their families had inhabited the area prior to the establishment of the State of Israel.
B’Tselem reports that Khirbet al‑Tabban is the 66th Palestinian community expelled by Israeli authorities since the Gaza war began in October 2023, alleging that this is part of a broader campaign of “ethnic cleansing” in the West Bank.
