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Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank are taking advantage of curbs on movement imposed ‌during the war on Iran to attack Palestinians, with military roadblocks preventing ambulances reaching victims quickly, rights groups and medics say.Settlers ​have killed at least five Palestinians in ‌the West Bank since the US and Israel began airstrikes against Iran on February 28, according to the Palestinian health ministry. ‌A sixth man died after ⁠inhaling teargas fired during an attack, ‌according to Israeli rights group B'Tselem.Israel's military blocked many West ‌Bank roads with iron gates and mounds of earth on the first day of the war, and has largely shut crossings with Israel.The Israeli military ⁠says the curbs are pre-emptive measures while it is carrying out airstrikes on Iran and against Lebanese group Hezbollah, which has fired missiles at Israel in solidarity with Tehran.Palestinians in remote West Bank villages say the roadblocks have left them increasingly exposed to settler violence.The Israeli military has also continued to carry out the raids it frequently conducts in Palestinian cities and towns during peacetime to arrest Palestinians, often without charge, they say.The Israeli military said they do not prevent medical teams from treating wounded civilians and it enables freedom of movement for medical teams in the West Bank.A spokesperson for the Yesha Council, which represents Jewish settlements, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the ​attacks.Malak Beirat's husband, Thaer, was one of two Palestinians who residents and the Palestinian health ministry say were shot dead by settlers before dawn on Sunday in Abu Falah, north of the city of Ramallah."Thaer loved life. I never expected he would die," said Beirat, fighting back tears as she sat with her two ‌children.Witnesses told Reuters that when over 100 settlers ⁠gathered on the outskirts of Abu ​Falah, a local WhatsApp group rallied men to protect the small village. The initial confrontation involved stone throwing, but armed ​settlers arrived later and began shooting, they said.Beirat's husband was shot dead while trying to protect a house from attack, a man who helped defend the village said.Blood could still be seen on Monday in olive groves at the scene of the attack, where villagers have erected two Palestinian flags at the spots where the two men were killed — one for each victim.A third Palestinian died after the attack. B'Tselem said his death was probably caused by the effect of teargas fired by Israeli troops deployed to the village during the attack.The Israeli military says an investigation has been launched into the incident and that it condemns "violence of any kind".Medics say the new roadblocks have led to delays in reaching injured Palestinians."There are obstacles — and even attacks by settlers and the military on the (medical) crews," said Ahmed Jibril, spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service.There have been over 109 reports of settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank ‌since the start of the war with Iran including ‌shootings, physical assaults, property damage, and threats, said Israeli monitoring ⁠group Yesh Din.All the reported killings of Palestinians by settlers this year were in the last week, B'Tselem said.Settlers shot dead Amir Muhammad Shanaran ⁠in a village near the city of Hebron on Saturday, and ⁠brothers Muhammad and Fahim ‘Azem were shot dead in Qaryut southeast of the city of Nablus last Monday, the Palestinian health ministry said."Taking advantage of the war, armed settler militias, often operating with support from the army, continue to attack and harass Palestinian communities across the West Bank in an effort to force them out," B'Tselem said.In three of the settler shootings, the settlers were wearing Israeli army uniform, Yesh Din said. The Israeli military said the incidents were under investigation.Palestinians accuse the military of protecting settlers rather than villagers. Israel's military denies this.Israeli indictments of settler violence are rare.The UN says nearly 700 Palestinians were displaced by settler violence from the start of 2025 through early February 2026.Israel's government has expanded settlements in a construction push that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says is aimed at burying the idea of a Palestinian state. 

Israeli settlers attempted to set fire to a mosque in the occupied West Bank village of Tell early Monday, the Palestinian Authority's ministry of religious affairs said."The Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs condemned the attempt by a group of settlers to set fire to a part of the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Mosque in the village of Tell, near Nablus, and the writing of racist slogans on its walls", the ministry said in a statement.The ministry noted an increase in attacks on mosques in the West Bank, totalling 45 in 2025."The burning of part of the mosque clearly demonstrates the barbarity reached by the Israeli racist incitement machine toward Islamic and Christian holy sites in Palestine", the ministry said.An AFP journalist on the ground reported burnt carpets, broken front doors, walls and windows blackened by fire. However there was no structural damage as the fire did not catch and spread throughout the whole building.Israel's military said in a statement to AFP that army and police forces "were dispatched to the area of Tell following a report and footage that was received after the fact regarding suspects who set fire to a mosque and sprayed graffiti.""No injuries were reported", and the forces are searching for the suspects, the statement added.Ghassan Daghlas, governor of the Nablus region which includes Tell, condemned the attack in a video posted on social media."They burned the mosque, and we are the ones rebuilding it. This is our land -- the land of Palestine", he said, a garden hose in hand to wash off debris at the site.Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements and outposts, which are illegal under international law.Around 3mn Palestinians live in the territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967.While most Israeli settlers do not engage in violence, a small but militant fringe has been linked to attacks on Palestinians.The current Israeli government, considered one of the most right-wing in the country's history, has fast-tracked settlement expansion and recognised some outposts. 

An organisation representing international media in Israel and the Palestinian territories Monday condemned attacks by Israeli settlers on journalists in the occupied West Bank, urging Israeli authorities to halt the "violence immediately".The Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents hundreds of foreign journalists, said it was "appalled" by the recent attacks, especially during this year's olive harvest."Journalists, both local and foreign, have proven to be a clear target as they document an unprecedented level of unchecked violence against Palestinians during this year's olive harvest," the association said, citing two incidents involving journalists from international media outlets.The FPA said that on Saturday two employees of Reuters wearing clearly marked press vests and helmets were assaulted by masked Israeli civilians armed with clubs and rocks near the Palestinian village of Beita."A mob of dozens of settlers beat one of the employees, a female reporter, while she was already on the ground, resulting in severe injuries," the FPA said."They also attacked those who tried to help her. A Reuters security person was hit, and two Palestinian freelance journalists were injured while being chased." On October 10, settlers beat a veteran AFP photographer with sticks when filming the olive harvest in the same area.His car, along with a handful of others parked at a safe distance from the field, was stoned and then set on fire by the assailants."The photographer, who testified it was one of the worst attacks in his 30-year career, reported that Israeli forces at the scene refused to intervene, instead firing rubber bullets and tear gas at olive pickers and activists accompanying them," the FPA said.Several such incidents have occurred in the last few weeks, the FPA added."Israeli forces routinely harass and intimidate journalists, in some cases detaining them and threatening them with deportation," the FPA said."This is all part of a deepening climate of hostility toward the media by Israeli authorities," it added, urging the authorities to investigate the incidents and hold the perpetrators accountable."In particular, we urge central command head Major General Avi Bluth and police commander Moshe Pinchi to uphold their duties to ensure that journalists can work freely and safely," the association said."There cannot be press freedom in an environment in which journalists are threatened and harmed with complete impunity." When contacted by AFP, the Israeli military did not give an immediate response.An AFP journalist serves on the FPA's board of directors.Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and Israeli settlements there are expanding. Some 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the Palestinian territory and some of them have also attacked farmers trying to access their olive trees almost every day this year since the season began in mid-October, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.Almost none of the perpetrators have been held to account by the Israeli authorities. Violence in the West Bank has soared since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023.

Hundreds gathered Wednesday in a village of the Israeli-occupied West Bank to mourn a young man who the Palestinian health ministry said was killed by Israeli settler gunfire.Friends and relatives of 20-year-old Said al-Naasan, killed on Tuesday in Al-Mughayyir, carried his body through the village wrapped in a Palestinian flag with his head covered by a traditional keffiyeh.The Ramallah-based health ministry said in a statement that Naasan was killed “by settler gunfire”, while the Israeli military said an off-duty soldier had fired shots after Palestinians had thrown stones.The village’s mayor, Amin Abu Aliya, said that residents on Tuesday evening saw “several armed settlers herding cattle near homes on the eastern side (of the village)”.“They opened fire on residents there, critically wounding the martyr, who later died from his wounds,” Abu Aliya added.In response to a question from AFP, the Israeli military said the incident occurred during “a violent confrontation in which a dozen Palestinians hurled rocks at Israeli civilians in a pasture in the area of Al-Mughayyir”, using a term it usually uses to refer to settlers. Israeli settlers in the West Bank also serve in the army, and sometimes carry their weapons with them when off duty.Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.In a separate incident, the Palestinian health ministry said Israeli forces shot dead a man in his 20s in the West Bank town of Anza Wednesday. In a statement, the Israeli military said that during “operational activity in the area of Anza, a fighter hurled an explosive device towards (Israeli) soldiers operating in the area.”“The soldiers responded with fire and eliminated the fighter,” it said, adding there were no injuries to Israeli troops. Violence in the West Bank has soared since the October 2023 Hamas storming of Israel.Since then, Israeli troops and settlers have killed at least 981 Palestinians in the West Bank, including many fighters, according to health ministry figures.