The Israeli military has ordered a curfew in the occupied West Bank following an outbreak of violence in which six people were killed.
Four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed today as Israeli forces and settlers confronted Palestinians southwest of the city of Nablus.
According to reports, the violence was sparked as Israeli settlers attacked the town of Tal, which is close to the illegal Israeli settlement of Havat Gilad. Local and security sources said that the settlers opened live fire as Palestinians tried to protect their homes.The Israeli army said that it had dispatched troops to the area following “an attack on Israelis hiking in the area.”
Four other Palestinians were injured in the attack on the town of Tal, “three of them critically”, as well as two Israelis, Palestinian health officials said.
Shortly afterwards, the Israeli military announced it was preparing a major “counter-terror” operation in the West Bank, and had “more arrests to carry out”. Troops were then reported to have surrounded Nablus.
The military claimed a Palestinian had stolen a weapon from local security personnel and fired at the Israeli settlers, wounding several Israelis. It added that four Palestinians were killed “on the spot”, including the one who did the shooting.The military later reported that two soldiers were killed close to Tal during “operational activity.”
Palestinians in the West Bank have been facing a wave of violence as Israel’s hard-line government, dominated by settler leaders and supporters, has overseen a surge in settlement construction over the past four years. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in these areas to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.
The rate of new settlements and violence has accelerated dramatically since the recent wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran broke out. According to the Palestinian health ministry, the killings in Tal bring the toll to 87 Palestinians killed by Israelis across the West Bank since the beginning of the year, including 21 shot by settlers.
United Nations figures indicate some 850 Palestinians have been wounded in the context of attacks by Israeli settlers since the start of the year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to respond firmly to the Israeli deaths. In a post on X, Netanyahu said that he and Defence Minister Israel Katz had instructed the army to take a “series of forceful steps against terror.”
He said that these steps include: demolishing the home of the Palestinian reportedly responsible for the death of the Israeli near Tal; collecting weapons and revoking work permits in Palestinian villages he claimed “serve as terror hotspots”; bolstering Israeli forces across the West Bank; setting up checkpoints; and accelerating the regularisation of farms and the establishment of new ones. Netanyahu added that they will allow Israeli security forces to “operate freely and at full strength.”
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on the army to act with an “iron fist” against the Palestinian town and its surroundings.
“The people of the farms and the heroic settlement pioneers are the defensive wall of the State of Israel. We will continue to strengthen and honour them for their steadfast stand for our existence.”
Bezalel Smotrich
Smotrich added that the villages of Tell, Iraq Burin and Beit Furik “need to look exactly like the refugee camps in Nablus and Tulkarm,” referring to the mass demolition campaign that displaced tens of thousands in the West Bank towns last year.
“It is necessary to evacuate the population there for their protection and to clear these villages of terrorist infrastructure. A sharp, determined, and unequivocal military action is required here and now.”
Bezalel Smotrich
The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the latest killings in the “strongest terms”.
“The Ministry affirms that this massacre represents a renewed image of the ongoing Nakba to which our Palestinian people are subjected, and reflects the integration of crimes and roles and the deliberate escalation of these coordinated crimes between the occupation authorities and their forces and settler gangs.”
Palestinian foreign ministry
Israel’s Hardline Response Sparks Concerns
Netanyahu’s hardline response only increases concerns regarding further escalation in a region torn by conflicts – Gaza, Lebanon, Iran – that have Israel at their heart.
Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s Foreign Minister warned that the Israeli government is “pushing the West Bank towards explosion.”
“Its blatant violations of the historical and legal status quo at Jerusalem’s Holy Sites are illegal and dangerous provocations. They are pushing the region towards another disastrous conflcit that will reverberate.”
Ayman Safadi
Human rights group B’Tselem warned the violence could spin out of control as Israeli settlers and soldiers amass near multiple Palestinian cities.
Yuli Novak, the group’s Executive Director, noted that Israeli violence is spreading across the West Bank, “fueled by Israeli politicians openly calling for revenge.” Novak added, “We know where this leads. Millions of Palestinians are now completely exposed to further attacks, with no one protecting them.”
READ ALSO: Ghanaian Chef Abbys Honored Among Africa’s Top Tourism Influencers 2026
