Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians surged across the occupied West Bank on Monday after gunmen killed three Israelis and injured eight others in a fresh wave of violence.
Long-standing tensions in the West Bank have intensified since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza, plunging the region into heightened unrest. Settler attacks on Palestinian communities have escalated, fueled by Israel's offensive in Gaza and the backing of its right-wing government. Simultaneously, Palestinians have also carried out attacks on settlers.
Earlier on Monday, gunmen targeted Israeli vehicles on Route 55 near Al-Funduq, a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank. The road, which passes through the Kedumim settlement, became the site of a deadly shooting that claimed the lives of two women and a man. The women were residents of Kedumim, while the man, a police investigator from northern Israel, succumbed to gunshot wounds. Eight others, including a bus driver, were injured, according to Israel's Magen David Adom emergency service.
The attack spurred retaliatory settler violence. In Hajja, settlers reportedly set a vehicle on fire, while in Far'ata and Amatin villages, they threw stones at homes and destroyed crops, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA. In Amatin, Israeli forces allegedly fired on residents attempting to confront the settlers. However, the Israeli military stated it did not know about the incident.
Two additional incidents of settler violence were reported on Monday evening. Southeast of Ramallah, Israeli settlers set fire to an agricultural room in the town of Turmus Ayya, according to security sources cited by WAFA. In another attack near Bethlehem, settlers reportedly targeted Palestinian vehicles by throwing stones, WAFA reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed retaliation following the deadly gunman attack earlier in the day.
In a statement on X, he pledged to "find the abhorrent murderers and settle accounts with them and with all those who aided them. No one will get away."
Netanyahu is expected to hold a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to address developments in the West Bank.
While no group has claimed responsibility for the shooting, the Palestinian militant group Hamas has praised the attack, which Israel has described as a "terrorist attack."
