Two Israeli men were apparently shot and badly injured by a police officer in the West Bank late Monday, medics said, during an alleged attack by settlers on two Palestinian villages.
The incident came as Palestinian media reported that settlers had attacked the villages of Jinsafut and al-Funduq, setting fire to homes and vehicles.
According to media reports, the two masked Israelis attacked a Border Police officer near a settler outpost close to the Palestinian villages and pepper-sprayed him. The officer in response opened fire, wounding the pair. It was unclear why the men attacked the officer.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said the men in their 20s were listed in critical and serious condition after being shot near the settlement of Ramat Gilad. They were taken to Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba.
Police did not immediately comment on the reports.
The Israel Defense Forces said troops and Border Police officers were dispatched to the area to disperse the “violent rioting.” It later said that the rioting was dispersed by the forces.
The chief of the IDF’s Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, the head of the West Bank division, Brig. Gen. Yaki Dolf, and head of the Civil Administration, Brig. Gen. Hisham Ibrahim, were set to hold an assessment in the area, the army added.
There were no reports of arrests in the attack on the Palestinian villages.
A night earlier, Israeli assailants set homes and vehicles ablaze in three West Bank Palestinian villages and pelted Palestinian cars with rocks, apparently in violent protest over the release of Palestinian prisoners within the framework of the hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The IDF said two suspects were detained in the Sunday night rioting.
Israeli authorities have been accused of turning a blind eye to claims of rampant settler violence, with many attributing the lack of response to the government’s far-right flank, including outgoing police minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a lawyer known for previously defending settlers accused of violent attacks in court. There have been few arrests and even fewer convictions, according to observers.
On Friday, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that all seven Jewish Israelis held on allegations of settler violence under administrative detention orders would be freed, tying it to the release of Palestinian terror convicts as part of the hostage-ceasefire deal signed in Qatar last week.