Israeli settlers kill two Palestinians in occupied West Bank 

Israeli settlers have shot dead two Palestinians during an assault on a town in the occupied West Bank, WAFA news agency WAFA reports – the latest in a series of assaults that have killed at least six Palestinians in a week.

The agency, citing a statement from the Palestinian Health Ministry, on Sunday said the attack occurred overnight on the village of Abu Falah in the northeast of Ramallah.

It identified the victims as Fare’ Jawdat Hamayel, 57, and Thaer Farouq Hamayel, 24. Both were shot in the head, the agency reported.

A third resident died later from the fumes of a tear gas canister fired by Israeli soldiers who accompanied the settlers to disperse residents when they tried to confront the attackers, WAFA said. It identified him as Muhammad Hassan Murrah, 55.

In a post on X, Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh condemned the “brutal attack on innocent citizens”, saying three were killed and seven others injured.

The Israeli military said forces were dispatched to the Abu Falah area “following a report of Palestinians being attacked by Israeli civilians near homes”, the AFP news agency reported.

“Later, it was reported that two Palestinians were killed as a result of gunfire. Additionally, it was reported that another Palestinian died from suffocation,” it said in a statement, according to the report.

The Israeli military said it was “looking into” the incidents, the AFP news agency reported.

Exploiting the United States-Israeli war on Iran, the settlers have stepped up harassment and attacks on Palestinians, particularly in rural areas of the West Bank. WAFA said the killings in Abu Falah raised to at least six the number of Palestinians killed by settlers in the West Bank since the US-Israeli assault on Iran began a week ago.

On Saturday, the Palestinian Health Ministry, based in Ramallah, and a local mayor said Israeli settlers shot dead a Palestinian man and wounded his brother in an attack on the village of Wadi al-Rakhim in the southern West Bank.

Mohammad Rabai, head of the village council in nearby at-Tawani, told AFP that settlers had entered homes in the area and attacked the family of 27-year-old Amir Mohammad Shnaran, who later died.

The Israeli military said soldiers and police were dispatched to the scene after reports of a “violent confrontation” between Israelis and Palestinians. It said an investigation was under way.

Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, both members of resistance groups as well as civilians, in the occupied West Bank since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures.

At least 45 Israelis, including both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the same period, according to official Israeli figures.