Israeli settlers kill Palestinian, injure 3 others in West Bank attack

By Awad Rajoub

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Israeli settlers killed a Palestinian and injured three others during an attack late Monday on the village of Wadi Rahal in Bethlehem governorate in the occupied West Bank.

According to the official Voice of Palestine radio station, the settlers stormed the village and fired at residents' homes.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that four people have been shot.

One of the victims was critically wounded and later died, despite efforts to save him through CPR, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Further south in Bethlehem, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that settlers gathered near the village of Tuqu and raised Israeli flags, blocking its western entrance and the main road and attacking Palestinian vehicles.

In the eastern West Bank, WAFA also reported that settlers attacked a family of five with stones while they were at the Al-Auja spring, north of Jericho.

The settlers unleashed dogs on them and seized a tent and picnic items the family had with them.

The settlers have escalated their attacks on residents near the Al-Auja spring, aiming to gradually seize control of the area, depriving locals of water access and forcing Bedouin communities to leave through water deprivation.

According to data from the Palestinian Authority’s Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee, 18 Palestinians have been killed and over 785 injured by settler attacks since Oct. 7, 2023.

The Israeli left-wing organization Peace Now reported that approximately half a million Israelis live in 146 large settlements and 144 settlement outposts across the West Bank, excluding occupied East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Alperen Aktas from Istanbul