JERUSALEM – Dozens of angry Israeli settlers stormed a Palestinian village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday, shooting and burning homes and cars. The violence killed one Palestinian and injured 25 others, Palestinian health officials said.
The violence was the latest in an escalation in the West Bank that has accompanied the war in the Gaza Strip. An Israeli rights group said the settlers were searching for a 14-year-old boy missing from their settlement. After the riot, Israeli troops said they were still looking for the teenager.
The assassination came after an Israeli attack overnight killed two Palestinians, including a Hamas militant, in clashes with Israeli forces.
Palestinian health officials say more than 460 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces since the war began in October.
Israeli rights group Yesh Din said settlers raided the village of al-Mughayyir on Friday night, searching for the Israeli boy. The group said settlers were shooting and burning houses in the village.
Videos posted on X by the rights group showed dark clouds of smoke rising from burning cars as gunshots rang out. A photo posted by the group showed what appeared to be a crowd of masked settlers.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said one man was taken dead to hospital and 25 were treated for injuries. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said eight of the injured were hit by settler gunfire.
The Israeli army said it was looking for the 14-year-old boy and that forces opened fire when stones were thrown at soldiers by Palestinians. He said soldiers also expelled Israeli settlers from the village.
“At this point, the violent riots have been dispersed and there are no Israeli civilians present in the city,” he said.
US officials, including President Joe Biden, have repeatedly raised concerns about a rise in settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of Israel’s war with the militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Human rights groups have long accused the military of failing to stop settler violence or punish soldiers for wrongdoing.
Earlier Friday, two Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli forces in the northern West Bank, Palestinian doctors and military personnel said. Hamas said one of those killed was a local commander.
The military said the target of the soldiers’ attack was Mohammed Daraghmeh, a local Hamas commander. He stated that Daraghmeh was killed in a shootout with Israeli soldiers who discovered weapons in his car. The army alleged that Daraghmeh was planning attacks against Israeli targets, but provided no evidence. He also said the attackers also threw explosives at the soldiers.
The Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, when Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis, most of them civilians, in a surprise attack and incursion in southern Israel. Around 250 people were taken hostage by the militants and taken to Gaza.
Israel said on Friday it had opened a new crossing for aid trucks into hard-hit northern Gaza as it ramps up aid deliveries to the beleaguered enclave. However, the United Nations says the increase in aid is not being felt in Gaza due to persistent distribution difficulties.
Six months of fighting in Gaza has pushed the small Palestinian territory into a humanitarian crisis, leaving more than 1 million people on the brink of starvation.
Israeli bombings and ground offensives in Gaza have killed more than 33,600 Palestinians and injured more than 76,200, the Health Ministry says. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its calculation, but says women and children account for two-thirds of those killed. .
Israel claims to have killed more than 12,000 militants during the war, but has provided no evidence to support the claim.
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