The killings mark a sharp escalation of settler violence unfolding with reduced international scrutiny as Israel’s military and media focus remain fixed on the regional war with Iran, which began Feb. 28. Rights groups say the parallel crises have created conditions in which accountability for settler attacks has weakened and Palestinian communities face mounting barriers to emergency care.
Three Palestinians were killed Sunday in a violent clash with Israeli settlers near Khirbet Abu Falah, east of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, bringing to six the number of Palestinians killed in the territory in less than one week, the Israeli military said.
Two men died from gunfire. A third, Mohammad Murra, died from suffocation, which the military attributed to tear gas. The two others killed were Fare’ Hamayel and Thaer Hamayel, cousins. All three were buried together in a joint funeral.
The Israeli military said it responded to reports of settlers attacking Palestinians near Khirbet Abu Falah and condemned the violence in direct terms, opening a criminal investigation against the settlers involved.
Eyewitness account
Amin Shouman, a resident of Abu Falah who witnessed the attack, told the Associated Press that dozens of Israeli settlers approached the village from the north and opened fire when they were confronted by a community guard committee along the village border.
Military condemns attack, opens investigation
Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, commander of the Israeli military’s Central Command, which includes the West Bank, said the incident was unacceptable.
“This is an unacceptable incident. There will be zero tolerance for civilians who take the law into their own hands,” Bluth said. “Especially at a time when the IDF is striking our bitter enemies, Iran and Hezbollah, with a firm hand — we cannot allow reckless internal violence to undermine the rule of law and the security of the region.”
Palestinians and rights organizations say Israel routinely fails to hold settlers accountable for violence. The Palestinian Authority’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday accused Israel of “exploiting the atmosphere of war” and the reduced international attention to conditions in the West Bank to intensify intimidation, violence and forced displacement.
Pattern of violence amid Iran war
Sunday’s deaths followed three other killings earlier in the week. One Palestinian was killed in the South Hebron Hills on Saturday by an Israeli reservist. Settlers shot and killed two Palestinian brothers in the northern West Bank on Monday.
In 2025, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported 240 Palestinians killed in the West Bank, with nine attributed to Israeli settlers. Rights groups say the current year has seen a sharply larger share of fatalities directly attributed to armed settlers.
Yesh Din, an Israeli rights organization, tracked more than 50 incidents of settler violence against Palestinians in the first four days of the war with Iran, which began Feb. 28.
Restrictions hampering emergency response
The Palestinian Red Crescent said checkpoint and gate closures imposed in connection with the Iran war are creating mounting obstacles for first responders across the West Bank. Israel has erected approximately 1,100 gates across the territory, the Red Crescent said, up from roughly 800 at the time of last year’s war with Iran.
Doctors and emergency workers said the movement restrictions hamper their ability to respond quickly, particularly after violent attacks by settlers. Many of the communities most exposed to such violence are in parts of the West Bank under full Israeli military and civil control, far from city-center hospitals and dependent on roads that can be sealed without notice.