Six dead and at least eight injured in the West Bank. On Friday morning, a firefight near the Palestinian village of Tell and the settler outpost of Havat Gilad, in the north of the occupied Palestinian territory, resulted in the deaths of four Palestinians and two Israelis. There are opposing reconstructions regarding the origin of the episode. The Israeli army imposed a military cordon around Nablus and announced the preparation of “a large anti-terrorism operation”; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a security assessment with Defense Minister Israel Katz and the Chief of Staff.
The two reconstructions
According to a preliminary investigation by the IDF, the Israeli army, a group of armed settlers had entered Tell on an unauthorized excursion and encountered Palestinians near a mosque. During the clash, military sources quoted by reported Haaretza Palestinian allegedly stole the rifle from the Havat Gilad security officer and opened fire, before being killed by the military. A video verified by the Israeli press shows the moment the weapon is taken away during the scuffle.
Palestinian officials offer a different version: between twenty-five and thirty settlers reached the eastern part of Tell attempting to enter two homes; rejected, they would return to the western part of the village, where the clash would begin. Ramallah’s Ministry of Health attributes the deaths of the four Palestinians to Israeli forces.
The circumstances remain to be ascertained
The Israeli army said it had killed the Palestinian who had stolen the rifle, but has not yet clarified under what circumstances the other three died, and said it was verifying whether some of the victims were hit by crossfire. Videos examined by the Associated Press agency show Israeli soldiers firing at Palestinians already on the ground.
The entry of the Israeli group took place without authorization and without coordination with the army, along an itinerary that crossed areas A and B of the West Bank: in area A, access to Israeli citizens is prohibited, in area B the rules vary depending on the location and the military measures in force.
The victims
The Israeli victims were identified by the IDF as Major Yuval Ezra, 27, from Herzliya, battery commander of the 411th artillery battalion, and Reserve Sergeant Major Benayahu Mellet, 32, from Yitzhar, member of the Havat Gilad civil defense team. The officer’s death was reported a few hours after the episode, and for this reason the initial versions of international agencies reported only one Israeli killed. The names of the four Palestinians were not released. Eight people were injured: four Israelis, two of whom were evacuated by helicopter, and four Palestinians, three in critical condition.
Israel’s response
The prime minister’s office said the security assessment would examine “how to respond to this morning’s bloody attack on Gilad Farm.” «We will act firmly against terrorists and their instigators – declared Netanyahu – and we will not allow terrorism in Judea and Samaria to raise its head again», using the name with which the Israeli government refers to the West Bank.
In a joint note, Netanyahu and Katz ordered the demolition of the attacker’s home, the seizure of weapons, the revocation of Palestinian work permits, new checkpoints, a greater separation between Israeli and Palestinian roads and the acceleration of the regularization of new Israeli agricultural outposts. The chief of staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, ordered “a large deployment of forces to strengthen defense in the area and capture all terrorists involved in the attack”. The Army has suspended troops’ furloughs. According to the IDF, the decision to strengthen forces in the West Bank is also linked to the preparation of a possible escalation with Iran.
The raids of the settlers
In the following hours, according to Israeli and Palestinian sources, groups of settlers entered or attempted to enter the village of Jit and other towns in the area, including Far’ata. Videos cited by the Israeli press show dozens of people, some with their faces covered, heading towards Jit; Palestinian sources report attempts to damage or burn property. The army imposed a curfew in some villages around Nablus and detained several Palestinians.
Havat Gilad
Havat Gilad was born in 2002 as an unauthorized outpost and was evacuated and rebuilt several times. In 2018 the Israeli government began a regularization procedure, which according to the Israeli organization Peace Now has not been completed because most of the buildings are located on land claimed as private Palestinian property. Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered to be devoid of legal validity and in violation of international law by UN Security Council Resolution 2334 and the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 19 July 2024; Israel disputes this position.