One dead, one injured in settler attack on Palestinian town in occupied West Bank, Israeli president denounces “pogrom”

The attack took place in Jit, between the cities of Nablus and Qalqilya, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. A 23-year-old man was shot dead, while another was seriously injured by a gunshot to the chest.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has “firmly condemned” On Thursday evening, August 15, an attack by Jewish settlers against a Palestinian locality in the occupied West Bank left one dead and one seriously injured, according to the Palestinian Authority. He described the violence as “pogrom”, in a message posted on X.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the attack took place in Jit, between the cities of Nablus and Qalqilya. A 23-year-old man, who fell “under the bullets of settlers”died, while another Palestinian was seriously injured by a gunshot to the chest, the ministry also added. Israeli army spokesman, contacted by AFP, explained that “dozens of Israeli civilians, some of them masked, (were) entered in […] Jit, (had) set fire to vehicles and infrastructure in the area, and threw stones and Molotov cocktails”.

“This is an extremist minority that is damaging the law-abiding settler population, the settlement system as a whole, and (reputation) of Israel in the world, during a particularly sensitive and difficult period”the Israeli president also said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured that “Those responsible for any criminal act will be arrested and prosecuted.“.

“Violent settler attacks on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank are unacceptable and must stop,” said a spokesman for the National Security Council, a body attached to the White House. He also urged the Israeli authorities to take the necessary measures to “protect all communities”.

Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7, violence has flared up in the occupied West Bank. At least 633 Palestinians have been killed there by the Israeli army or settlers, according to an AFP count based on official Palestinian data, and at least 18 Israelis, including soldiers in Palestinian attacks or during army operations in the Palestinian autonomous zone, according to official Israeli data.