Six killed in West Bank shooting; accounts conflict on who began violence

At least four Palestinians and two Israelis were killed in a shooting in the northern West Bank village of Tal on Friday, marking the deadliest single incident in the occupied territory in months, according to BBC reporting. The clash has surfaced a fundamental dispute over who initiated the violence, with Palestinian eyewitnesses describing settlers attacking homes and Israeli military accounts framing Palestinians as the first aggressors.

Palestinian eyewitness Ahmed Zeidan told the BBC that the incident began early in the morning when locals rushed to confront about 30 settlers who were attacking Palestinian homes. Zeidan said hand-to-hand clashes broke out in the presence of Israeli soldiers. A local Fatah party leader, Essam Saifi, told Reuters that settlers opened fire before Israeli forces arrived and Israeli forces also started shooting.

The Israeli Defense Forces provided a different sequence of events. The IDF said soldiers went to Tal following a report of an attack on Israeli civilians who were hiking in the area. The hiking party was not coordinated with the military, according to the IDF. The military stated that a security guard from a nearby settler outpost had his gun snatched by a Palestinian who used it against Israelis, killing him. The IDF said soldiers then "eliminated the terrorist who executed the terror attack."

Four members of the same Palestinian family were killed in the exchange of fire, per the head of the IDF's central command, Major General Avi Bluth. A 27-year-old IDF soldier was also killed during operational activity in the area; the circumstances of his death remain unclear. The Israeli ambulance service said two Israelis were wounded. Palestinian officials said several other Palestinians were wounded.

Two video clips were widely shared by local media but not independently verified by BBC. One video appears to show a confrontation between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers and armed Israelis in civilian clothes, with Israeli civilians including children watching and heckling. The second video shows both men attempting to grab guns, with one successfully taking a gun, followed by gunshots and troop response.

An AFP reporter noted roadblocks had been set up southwest of Nablus and troops were searching for additional suspects. The IDF raided a hospital in Nablus and apprehended two individuals described as "terrorists who took part in the shooting attack" who had gone to the hospital for treatment.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to act "with full force against the terrorists and those who orchestrate and sponsor them," per BBC. Netanyahu called an emergency meeting with security officials and reinforcements were sent to the area near the settlement of Havat Gilad. Netanyahu's office issued a joint statement with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying the home of the Palestinian shooter in Tal would be demolished. The joint statement said the legalization of unauthorized settler outposts and the establishment of new ones would be speeded up. Outposts are illegal under international law and also Israeli law when built without official approval, per BBC.

Yair Golan, leader of Israel's Democrats Party and a reserve major general in the IDF, described Netanyahu and Katz's joint statement as "a clear intent to set the area ablaze." National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the villages of "the murderers" must be treated in the same way as Gaza and stated "For every Jew murdered, the enemy must suffer the loss of land and homes."

After the attack in Tal, there were reports of violent confrontations between dozens of armed settlers and Palestinians in other nearby villages in the northern West Bank. A number of Palestinians were wounded in other villages with one shot in the head in Farata, according to local medics.

Since October 2023, 1,114 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, the vast majority by the IDF, per the UN. The UN says at least 35 Palestinian deaths since October 2023 have involved attacks by settlers. The UN says 41 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in the West Bank since October 2023. There has been a surge in attacks by settlers on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, which was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The Palestinian foreign ministry said it "condemns in the strongest terms the massacre" in Tal and attributed the escalation to "protection, political backing, and complete impunity granted by the Israeli government and occupation forces." The ministry stated "Official Israeli incitement continues to fuel and encourage these crimes, creating an environment in which settler violence flourishes without accountability."