West Bank shooting kills four Palestinians, two Israelis in deadliest incident in months

At least four Palestinians and two Israelis have been killed in a shooting in the occupied West Bank, making it the deadliest single incident there in months.

There are conflicting accounts of the sequence of events in the northern village of Tal. Palestinians told the BBC that residents confronted Jewish settlers who were attacking them. An eyewitness said soldiers then arrived and started shooting.

Israel's military said it had responded to reports that hikers had been attacked. It said 'terrorists stole the weapon' of a security guard and killed him, before being killed by soldiers. The other three killed were members of the same Palestinian family. A second Israeli, a soldier, was also killed.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) later said that it was preparing for 'extensive counterterrorism operational activity in the sector'.

There has been a surge in attacks by settlers on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, which was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.

Ahmed Zeidan, an eyewitness, told the BBC the latest incident began early in the morning, when locals in Tal rushed to confront about 30 settlers who were attacking Palestinian homes. He said hand-to-hand clashes broke out in the presence of Israeli soldiers.

A local leader of the ruling Palestinian Authority's Fatah party, Essam Saifi, told Reuters news agency that settlers opened fire before Israeli forces arrived and also started shooting. Palestinian officials said several other Palestinians were wounded.

The IDF said Palestinians began the attack. It said soldiers had gone to Tal following a report of an attack on Israeli civilians who were hiking in the area – part of which falls in an area of the West Bank under full control of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the other part under PA administrative control and Israeli security control. The military says that the hike was not co-ordinated with them.

A security guard from a nearby settler outpost had gone to the scene and had his gun snatched by a Palestinian who used it against the Israelis, killing him, the IDF says. Soldiers then 'eliminated the terrorist who executed the terror attack', the IDF added. He was one of four members of the same family killed 'in the exchange of fire', said the head of the army's central command, Maj Gen Avi Bluth.

Two video clips have been widely shared by local media – but not independently verified. One appears to show a confrontation between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers and armed Israelis dressed in civilian clothes as gunshots are fired and a group of Israeli civilians, including children, watch and heckle. Armed Israelis in civilian clothes then push and kick back two Palestinian men. The second video shot from a different angle appears to show that both men tried to grab the guns – one of them successfully. There is a chaotic scene and several gunshots can be heard as he appears to fire it and troops also respond.

The IDF has said a 27-year-old soldier 'fell during operational activity in the area of the village'. The circumstances of his death remain unclear. The Israeli ambulance service said two Israelis were also wounded.