Three Palestinians were shot dead and seven more were injured on Wednesday during a settler rampage in the West Bank village of Kafr Malik near Ramallah, the Palestinian Authority health ministry reported.
Over 100 settlers took part in the attack, according to the Yesh Din rights group, which said the violence unfolded in the presence of Israeli soldiers.
Footage from Kafr Malik showed several homes and cars torched in the attack. Settlers also hurled stones at residents and property during the attack, according to witnesses who spoke to Palestinian media.
Another clip showed Israeli soldiers firing at Palestinians near the entrance to Kafr Malik.
The Israel Defense Forces later confirmed troops opened fire, saying the soldiers were shooting back at Palestinian gunmen and rioters hurling stones. According to the military, dozens of Israelis entered Kafr Malik during the settler rampage, setting fire to buildings and cars.
“At the scene, friction erupted between Israeli civilians and Palestinians, including mutual stone-throwing,” the IDF said.
Upon receiving reports of the settler attack, the IDF said troops and police officers were dispatched to the area to “disperse the friction.”
During attempts to disperse the violence, an IDF officer was lightly injured after being hit by a stone. The military did not say which side threw the stone.
Shortly after, the IDF said Palestinian gunmen opened fire on the forces from within the village, and others hurled stones at the troops.
The soldiers returned fire “at the source of the gunfire and the stone throwers,” the IDF said, adding that “hits were identified, and it has emerged there are several injured and dead.”
Meanwhile, five Israelis suspected of participating in the attack on the village were detained and handed over to police for further questioning, the military added.
“Under the auspices of government and military backing, settler violence in the West Bank continues and becomes more deadly by the day. This is what ethnic cleansing looks like,” Yesh Din charged in a statement.
Hussein al-Sheikh, the deputy to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also condemned the Israeli government.
“The government of Israel, with its behavior and decisions, is pushing the region to explode,” he posted on X. “We call on the international community to intervene urgently to protect our Palestinian people.”
Earlier Wednesday, masked Israeli settlers were filmed torching a vehicle during a raid on a Bedouin Palestinian hamlet of A-Tayyibe near Ramallah. The PA’s official Wafa news agency reported that settlers also hurled stones at Palestinians in the northern West Bank village of Asira al-Qibliya, striking one of the men in the head.
Settler attacks on Palestinians throughout the West Bank have been taking place on a near-daily basis with near impunity, in what has sparked mounting sanctions from Western governments.
The Biden administration led this effort, though US President Donald Trump reversed US sanctions on his first day in office.
European governments have kept them in place, though, and earlier this month, the UK took the unprecedented step of sanctioning far-right ministers Bezalal Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, asserting that they have been providing tailwind for the settler attacks.
The head of the Israel Police’s West Bank division is currently under investigation for ignoring settler violence to curry favor in the eyes of Ben Gvir. Despite the ongoing probe, he was reinstated to the force this month following a six-month suspension.
Agencies and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.