Palestinian Wounded During Settler March in West Bank

NABLUS, Palestinian Territories-A Palestinian man was shot and wounded on Friday during an Israeli settler march through several towns in the occupied West Bank, where clashes erupted between settlers, Palestinian residents and Israeli security forces, according to Palestinian medics, the Israeli military and an AFP journalist at the scene.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said its medical teams treated a young man who suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen in the Al-Junaid area of Nablus during what it described as an Israeli army and settler raid. The organization did not provide further information on the man’s condition.

The march was organized by Israeli settlers to commemorate two Israelis who were killed last week during clashes in the nearby Palestinian town of Tell, west of Nablus. The earlier violence also left four Palestinians dead.

According to an AFP journalist, between 100 and 150 settlers, including women and children, took part in the procession. The group approached Tell from the direction of the Havat Gilad settlement, where one of the two Israelis killed last week had lived.

The settlers moved through farmland surrounding Tell before passing through the neighboring town of Sarra and the Al-Junaid neighborhood of Nablus. Around 10 participants were armed, while Israeli soldiers were deployed along the route and intervened periodically as confrontations broke out between settlers and Palestinian residents.

The AFP journalist reported that settlers entered at least one building in Tell and four buildings in Al-Junaid. Clashes later erupted between settlers and Palestinian youths, prompting Israeli troops to disperse the crowds with tear gas.

In a statement, the Israeli military said Palestinians threw stones at Israeli civilians in Al-Junaid and that an Israeli civilian fired warning shots into the air. The military said soldiers already deployed in the area acted to disperse the confrontation and evacuate the civilians.

The army said the shooting occurred during a separate incident after Palestinians allegedly threw stones at Israeli soldiers. According to the military, troops initiated what it described as a suspect apprehension procedure, which included opening fire at what it called the primary instigator. The military did not provide further details about the wounded Palestinian.

The occupied West Bank has experienced a sustained rise in violence involving Israeli forces, settlers and Palestinians in recent years. Tensions have intensified further following last week’s deadly clashes in Tell, which prompted renewed security operations and heightened friction across the region.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Middle East war. Israeli settlements in the territory are considered illegal under international law, a position rejected by Israel. Excluding East Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in communities across the West Bank alongside roughly three million Palestinians.

Following last week’s deaths of the two Israeli civilians in Tell, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would permit the establishment of additional settlements in the area, a move likely to add to tensions in the occupied territory.