Ramallah, West Bank: A Palestinian man was killed on Saturday in the West Bank amid escalating violence that has claimed 22 lives since the Iran war erupted, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
Israel’s military reported responding to a riot in Deir Jarir, northeast of Ramallah, where a reserve soldier fired at 23-year-old Ali Majed Hamadneh. He received medical evacuation but died in hospital, AP reported.
The military launched a probe but offered no details on the reservist’s status—on duty or civilian—during the event. Deir Jarir council head Fathi Hamdan insisted a settler in civilian attire shot Hamadneh, with soldiers arriving post-incident. Palestinians and rights organizations decry Israel’s pattern of impunity for settlers and troops in such cases.
Rising Toll And Historical Context
Year-to-date, 33 Palestinians have died in the territory, two-thirds amid March’s Iran war clashes; settlers account for at least eight fatalities. Last year, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tallied 240 Palestinian deaths—most by Israeli forces, just nine (under 4%) by settlers.
New Settlements Amid Political Push
This surge aligns with Israel’s approval of 34 West Bank settlements, per monitoring group Peace Now. The Security Cabinet greenlit them April 1 but hushed the news during the Iran conflict to preserve US ties. The batch included formalized outposts, farms, and standalone neighbourhoods of existing sites.
Peace Now slammed the “frenzy” as a bid to woo Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing allies before year’s-end elections. “The establishment of settlements harms security, places an abnormal burden on the IDF, and undermines the possibility of resolving the conflict and achieving any future security and peace,” the group stated.
Right-wing leaders toasted the moves at a Friday outpost ceremony. “Israel’s political decisions in Judea and Samaria are completely killing off the idea of separate states and the founding of a terror state in the heart (of Israel),” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said. Peace Now counts 102 such approvals since 2023.
