Israel orders settlement legalisation and 'vast operation' after West Bank clashes kill two Israelis, four Palestinians

What happened

On the morning of 24 July 2026, violence broke out in the Palestinian village of Tell, near the Israeli settlement of Havat Gilad in the northern West Bank. The Israeli army said it received reports of an attack on Israeli civilians who were hiking in the area. A security team from Havat Gilad and Israeli soldiers were dispatched to the scene. According to the military, a "violent confrontation" then erupted between dozens of Palestinians and Israelis, with gunfire exchanged from both sides. During the clash, a Palestinian managed to seize a weapon from one of the settlers who had arrived as reinforcement and opened fire, killing a man in his thirties. The army later confirmed that a second Israeli, a 32-year-old local defence security agent, had also been killed. Four Palestinians were killed, according to both the Israeli army and the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian health ministry said four others were wounded, three of them seriously. Israeli emergency services Magen David Adom reported that two wounded Israelis, both in their twenties, were evacuated by helicopter, one in serious condition.

Conflicting accounts

The sequence of events is sharply disputed. Walid Zidan, head of the Tell village council, told media that about twenty settlers from Havat Gilad entered the village, and that Israeli soldiers were present and, together with the settlers, opened fire. He described the settlers as storming the village "with the intention to kill, vandalize and burn property." Multiple witnesses gave similar accounts. The Israeli narrative, as reported by Ynetnews, maintains that the Israelis were hiking when they were set upon by residents of Tell. The army initially described an attack on hikers, then later referred to a "violent confrontation."

Israeli soldiers were present and, with the settlers, opened fire. It was the settlers who stormed the village, with the intention to kill, vandalize and burn property.

Israeli response

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to act "with firmness" against what he called a "deadly attack" and announced he would convene security officials to discuss the response. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on the army to act with an "iron fist" against "the village of the murderers and its surroundings." Army chief Lieutenant-General Eyal Zamir, who visited the area, said forces were pursuing every terrorist involved. The military announced it was preparing a "vast anti-terrorist operation" in the sector, had cancelled soldiers' leave across the territory, and was deploying additional forces.

We will act with firmness against the terrorists and their sponsors.

The army must act with an iron fist against the village of the murderers and its surroundings.

Settlement legalisation

In a parallel move, Netanyahu ordered the acceleration of the legalisation of settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank. These outposts are illegal under international law. The decision came hours after the clashes, linking the security response directly to settlement expansion. Over 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, on land Israel has occupied since 1967.

Wider context

Violence in the West Bank has surged since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the subsequent war in Gaza. According to official Israeli figures, at least 47 Israelis, both civilians and soldiers, have been killed in the territory since then. An AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data puts the Palestinian death toll at at least 1,094, including both fighters and civilians, killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers.