Arabic version: مقتل ستة في إطلاق نار بالضفة الغربية

According to BBC News, at least four Palestinians and two Israelis were killed in a shooting in the occupied West Bank village of Tal, described as the deadliest single incident of its kind there in months.

Accounts of how the violence began differ. Palestinians told the BBC that residents confronted Jewish settlers who were attacking them, while eyewitness Ahmed Zeidan said Israeli soldiers arrived and began shooting after hand-to-hand clashes. Israel’s military said it responded to reports that hikers had been attacked and that a Palestinian took a security guard’s weapon and used it to kill him.

The Israel Defense Forces said soldiers killed the attacker. It said the four Palestinians who died were members of the same family. A 27-year-old Israeli soldier also died during operational activity, though the circumstances of his death remain unclear. Palestinian officials said several other Palestinians were wounded, while Israel’s ambulance service reported two wounded Israelis.

The IDF said it later raided a hospital in Nablus and detained two people it described as terrorists who had taken part in the shooting and sought treatment. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would act “with full force” against those responsible and called an emergency security meeting. His office said the home of the Palestinian shooter would be demolished and that legalisation of unauthorised settler outposts and new outposts would be accelerated.

Violent confrontations were also reported in nearby northern West Bank villages after the Tal attack. The UN says 1,114 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 2023, while 41 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations there.