Israel Launches Large-Scale West Bank Operation After Six Killed in a Settler 'Hike' Gone Wrong

The Israeli military began mobilizing for a large-scale operation in the occupied West Bank on Friday after four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed in a firefight outside the village of Tell, near Nablus — an escalation that touched off settler rampages across more than a dozen Palestinian communities within hours.

By the Israeli military's own account, the confrontation began when a group of settlers entered a stretch of the West Bank closed to Israeli civilians for what it called an "unauthorized and uncoordinated hike." As the group neared Tell, clashes broke out with residents. Video of the encounter shows soldiers and armed settlers pushing Palestinians back, with shouts of "revenge" in Hebrew audible in the background, and an armed settler jabbing his rifle at two Palestinian men. One of the men grabs the weapon's strap. Seconds later he is holding the rifle, and at least a dozen shots ring out from several directions.

The military said the Palestinian man took the weapon from a security officer attached to the nearby Havat Gilad settlement, and that the officer and a second soldier were both killed. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the four Palestinians who died were shot by Israeli soldiers. Walid Zeiden, who heads the Tell village committee, said all four belonged to the same family — two brothers and two cousins. At least three more people were wounded by Israeli fire.

The Israeli military acknowledged the killings were not planned in advance, but is nonetheless treating the episode as a terror attack. It imposed curfews on Tell, on the village of Bureij and on the settlement of Shiloh, cancelled leave for soldiers in the sector and moved reinforcements in to pursue what it described as "dozens of Palestinians" involved. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the army to act forcefully in villages he called terror hotspots, and simultaneously directed officials to accelerate the establishment of new settlement farms and the legalization of existing outposts — structures considered illegal under international law. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich went further, calling for Palestinian villages in the area to be emptied and cleared.

Settler attacks spread through Friday to the towns of Faraata, Imatin, Jit, Iraq Burin and the Masafer Yatta area near Hebron. Video and photographs obtained by CNN from Faraata residents show settlers setting fire to homes, cars and businesses, spray-painting "revenge" on walls and tearing out an olive grove with two bulldozers. The Palestinian Red Crescent said eight people were injured in Faraata alone, six of them hospitalized with gunshot wounds.

The United Nations called for urgent action to halt what it described as unabated settler violence. "Israel must take immediate steps to prevent settler violence, protect Palestinian communities, and ensure that those responsible for attacks are held accountable," said Ramiz Alakbarov, the U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, who also urged Palestinians to reject violence and incitement. The Palestinian Authority accused Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz of accelerating the legalization of colonial outposts and appealed to Washington to intervene.

Friday's deaths came at the end of a violent week. Two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli forces in Beit Furik on Thursday after settlers reportedly torched Palestinian fields and vehicles, and two more were killed days earlier during a settler raid on Deir Jarir, near Ramallah.