Palestinians Warn West Bank at Breaking Point as Settler Violence and Raids Surge
Escalating Tensions and Violence in the West Bank
By Pesha Magid
TAL, West Bank, July 27 (Reuters) - Palestinian villagers in the occupied West Bank said on Monday the area was coming close to breaking point after increasing incursions by Israeli settlers and violent stand-offs, such as one that left six people shot dead last week.
The Israeli military made dozens of arrests and blocked roadways through the West Bank after Friday's incident in the village of Tal, southwest of Nablus, where four Palestinians and two Israelis were killed.
Early on Monday, most entrances to Tal, neighbouring villages and Nablus were either partially or fully shuttered, creating long lines of residents seeking to pass the checkpoints.
Confrontations Between Villagers and Settlers
'IF THEY COME, WE'LL MEET THEM'
Friday's shootings occurred after villagers from Tal confronted a large group of armed settlers they said tried to enter houses in the village. The Israeli military said there was a "violent confrontation" between dozens of Palestinians and Israeli civilians in which shots were fired on both sides.
Prime Minister Netanyahu's government has characterized the incident as terrorism but Palestinians say villagers were defending themselves against the latest in a series of attacks by settlers seeking to drive them off the land.
Ahmed Ramadan, 71, the father of one of the Palestinians killed on Friday, said settlers have continually harassed their home on the edge of Tal overlooking the rolling hills of the West Bank.
"They say we are terrorists. We are not terrorists," said Ramadan. He said the settler killed on Friday, Benayahu Mellet — an army reservist who was serving as security coordinator for the nearby settlement of Havat Gilad — had previously come to his home and yelled at him to leave and go to Syria or Jordan.
Ramadan said he had no intention of leaving, "Even if we die, we'll die here on our land. We're not prepared to leave this country."
Sitting at home with his surviving sons, he said if settlers return in force the village was ready. "If they come, we'll meet them head-on, even if they kill us," he told Reuters.
Military Response and Village Shutdown
SHUTDOWN
Israeli authorities initially portrayed Friday's incident as an attack by Palestinians on hikers walking near the village, located in Area A of the West Bank, a zone under Palestinian control that Israelis are generally prohibited from entering.
Video widely circulated on social media showed settlers carrying rifles and pushing residents as they approached the village. Reuters was not able to independently verify the video.
Palestinians from Tal said settlers attacked them first before one of the villagers wrestled a gun from one of the settlers.
The incident followed a pattern seen repeatedly around the West Bank, with large groups of settlers appearing near Palestinian communities, threatening and harassing their inhabitants, often as security forces stand by.
Such shows of force have become more frequent over recent months, while ministers in Netanyahu's government talk openly about annexing the West Bank, which Israel occupied following the 1967 Middle East war.
On Monday, Reuters reporters could see freshly cut tree trunks in fields at the edge of the village. Residents said that after the violence on Friday, settlers had come and cut down olive and fig trees.
According to United Nations figures, 18 Palestinians have been killed in incidents linked to settler attacks so far this year, compared with 17 in the whole of 2025. The Palestinian Authority says at least 20 Palestinians have been killed by settlers since the start of the year.
Since Friday, residents said there have been daily military raids on Tal, with between 60 and 80 people detained. About 30 remain in detention according to the deputy head of the village council Munther Shtayya.
In the early hours of Monday, residents said the military threw a man out of his house on the edge of the village. Reuters observed two soldiers standing on the roof of the man's home.
"All of the military is here in the streets," Kamal Shtayya, 55, a resident of Tal, said.
Growing Fears and Calls for International Attention
'THERE MUST BE AN EXPLOSION'
Settlements and International Law
As Netanyahu's government approaches elections in October, it has stepped up authorization for new settlement building in a drive ministers say is intended to tighten Israeli control over the West Bank.
The United Nations, Palestinians and most countries regard settlements as illegal under international law. Israel disputes this, saying the West Bank, which it captured in the 1967 war, is disputed territory, and citing biblical ties to the land.
Voices from the Village
"I'm patient, we'll be patient and patient and patient, but at the end of the day, patience runs out. It just flies away, it doesn't work," 72-year-old Tal farmer Ahmed Shtayya said.
"Any human being defends himself," he told Reuters.
Like many Palestinian farmers, Shtayya, who grows tomatoes, figs and eggplants, has seen settlers come ever closer. He said settlers have come up to him as he has been working, telling him the land was Israeli.
Just a few hundred metres up the road lies a burned-out home attacked by settlers a week ago, according to the vice head of the village council.
"I've come to this point. If they want to continue like this, there must be an explosion, what else?" Shtayya said.
(Editing by James Mackenzie and Andrew Heavens)
