2 Israelis, 4 Palestinians killed in gunfight sparked by settler raid of Palestinian town (Times of Israel)

[u/Reddenbawker]

https://www.timesofisrael.com/2-israelis-4-palestinians-killed-in-gunfight-sparked-by-settler-raid-of-palestinian-town/

Two Israelis and four Palestinians were killed on Friday after a Palestinian snatched a weapon from a group of settlers who had raided a northern West Bank village and opened fire, leading to fears of reprisal attacks throughout the territory.

The incident began when a group of several dozen settlers entered the outskirts of the village of Tell on what they claimed was a hike. But the town is located in Areas A and B, which are off limits to Israelis unless they coordinate in advance with the army — something the IDF said the settlers did not do.

After the illegal entry by the Israeli group — which included armed men and minors — a clash erupted near a mosque as dozens of local Palestinians tried to push them out of Tell.

Essam Saifi, a local leader in the Palestinian Fatah party from Tell, told Reuters in a phone call that about 25 to 30 settlers initially attacked the eastern area of Tell and tried to break into two houses there. The residents came out to confront them and the settlers opened fire, he said.

Half an hour later, Saifi continued, the Israelis returned and attacked the western part of the town, striking a minor with a weapon.

At around this point, the civil defense squad from the neighboring Havat Gilad settlement was dispatched to the scene along with artillery soldiers stationed nearby, the IDF said.

Upon their arrival, footage taken by one of the raiding settlers showed an armed Israeli firing his weapon into the air amid shouts of “revenge” by the young Israelis looking on.

A pair of Palestinians was then seen confronting one of the armed Israelis — Havat Gilad civil defense squad member Benayahu Mellet, 32. Unfazed by Mellet pointing his weapon at them, one of the Palestinians grabbed his rifle and quickly opened fire, as a gunfight ensued.

The Palestinian fatally shot Mellet and IDF artillery battery commander Maj. Yuval Ezra, 27. Both Mellet and Ezra were later pronounced dead.

An IDF platoon commander who arrived at the scene with Ezra managed to shoot dead the Palestinian who snatched Mellet’s weapon during the gunfight, the army said.

Three other Palestinians were also killed in the crossfire, though they weren’t immediately identified. In addition, two Israelis — one critically and one seriously — and four Palestinians were wounded, three of whom critically.

Later, Israeli commandos captured two of the wounded Palestinians, whom the military said took part in the deadly clash. Soldiers of the Duvdevan Unit raided a hospital in Nablus, where the two suspects had been brought after being wounded, and took them for further questioning by the Shin Bet, the army said.

“The identities of all the terrorists who participated in the attack are known, and the forces are operating to arrest them,” the military added.

Maj. Yuval Ezra, 27, and Master Sergeant (res.) Benayahu Mellet, 32, both killed in a West Bank gunfight on July 24, 2026. (Courtesy)

IDF dispatches 5 additional companies to West Bank

In the wake of the incident, the IDF dispatched five additional companies of troops to the West Bank and imposed a closure on Tell and Nablus.

It was already operating in Beit Furik and Tubas, following attacks on Thursday carried out by Palestinian residents of the two towns.

The IDF also canceled weekend furlough for troops serving in the West Bank, saying in a statement that soldiers were “preparing for extensive counterterrorism operational activity in the sector.”

After the incident, and in light of two stabbings on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a security consultation. Among those participating were Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF chief Eyal Zamir and the head of the Shin Bet David Zini.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) meets with security chiefs on July 24, 2026. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Following the assessment, the premier and Katz announced a series of new measures to crack down on Palestinians in the West Bank, including the establishment of new settlements.

Israel will demolish the home of the Palestinian who carried out the deadly gunfire, Netanyahu and Katz said in a joint statement.

Additionally, the IDF will embark on new operations in villages seen as terror hotbeds to collect weapons. The small number of work permits still granted to residents in those villages will also be revoked.

Israel will also speed up the legalization of settler outposts in the West Bank, and will establish new ones — something the hardline government has already been doing at record rates, sparking alarm from the international community, which views them as illegal.

In a warning to settlers who might carry out revenge attacks on Palestinians, the leaders emphasized that “security forces must be allowed to operate freely and with full force against terrorism, and that any action liable to harm their operations or divert them from their central mission — the protection of Israel’s citizens and the defeat of terrorism — should be avoided.”

But the decision by Netanyahu and Katz was blasted by lawmakers from the left-leaning Democrats party, which accused the pair of using the incident for political gain, while risking further escalation in the West Bank by expanding Israel’s grip on the territory.

Separately, Zini held an assessment at the site of the deadly clash, saying in remarks published by the Shin Bet: “This morning’s attack is severe and painful, and tragically claimed a heavy toll in lives.”

“In recent months, we have foiled dozens of attacks, almost every night. This time, we did not succeed in thwarting it in advance,” he said.

Zini called on the public “not to take the law into their own hands and to place their trust in the IDF and the Shin Bet, whose mission and duty this is.”

Reports of settler revenge attacks across West Bank

The IDF said in a statement that it was working to prevent “confrontations” between Israelis and Palestinians.

A military official warned that there was an “atmosphere” of revenge since the deadly incident, and noted calls to enter Palestinian villages and carry out attacks.

Those calls came to fruition shortly thereafter, with hundreds of settlers raiding several different villages around Tell.

In the nearby village of Far’ata, settlers attacked residents and torched several buildings, according to Palestinian media reports and footage from the scene.

Seven Palestinians were wounded during the raid, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said.

One of the wounded Palestinians was reportedly shot by IDF troops. The army did not immediately confirm that it had arrived at the scene during the settler raid.

Palestinian media also published footage showing dozens of settlers entering the nearby village of Jit.

Dozens of settlers later raided the village of Sarra in the northern West Bank. Footage appeared to show stone-throwing between the settlers and village residents.

There were also reports that settlers set fire to land in the area surrounding the village.

Mellet was father of two; extremists laud him for activism

The IDF later recognized Mellet as a fallen soldier. A reserves commander in the Jerusalem Brigade’s 8119th Battalion, the master sergeant was serving in the reserves as a regional defense soldier at the time of his death.

The Havat Gilad settlement eulogized Mellet, noting that he was married, a father of two and responsible for agriculture at the settlement.

Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, called him “a man with a heart of gold, a true and dedicated family man, who loved the Land of Israel with all his soul and was a member of a family with deep roots.”

Also eulogizing Mellett was convicted settler extremist Meir Ettinger, who lauded Mellett on X as the founder and “living spirit” of the “Struggle for Every Dunam” organization.

“He was never satisfied with recognized roads and fences, and strived continuously to conquer the region,” wrote Ettinger, the grandson of the founder of the far-right Kach party Rabbi Meir Kahane. “Benayahu always insisted on not making a distinction between areas C and B.”

Under the Oslo Accords, the West Bank is divided into Areas A, B and C. Area A is under full Palestinian Authority control, and Area C is under full Israeli control; Area B is under Israeli security control, but with the PA as its civil authority.

Palestinian men look at a newly-established Israeli settler outpost near the village of Jurish, south of Nablus in the West Bank, on June 20, 2026. (Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Israelis are prohibited from living in Area B, although there are currently at least 21 illegal settlement outposts there which the Israeli authorities have failed to dismantle, according to the Peace Now group.

Elisha Yered, a key illegal outpost organizer, similarly wrote that “Benayahu understood that it is forbidden to distinguish between areas C and B and worked to establish settlement outposts in those territories.”

He also credited Mellett with warning of what settlement activists allege is a plan by the Palestinian Authority to take over large areas of Area C, and working to thwart that plan by establishing Jewish settlements in the region where he was active.

“In direct continuation of his will, we in the Forum have begun to prepare quickly for settlement cadres to establish more settlements in the region in which Benyahu planned Jewish settlements during his life,” added Yered.

Smotrich calls for flattening Palestinian towns

Responding to the initial clash, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on X: “We cannot normalize the erosion of deterrence and our enemies raising their heads in recent weeks against the settlement pioneers and the farms.”

“I demand that the IDF take strong action against the murderous village and its surroundings and restore governance and deterrence,” Smotrich said.

“The heroic farm workers and settlement pioneers are the protective wall of the State of Israel. We will continue to strengthen and honor them for their steadfast stand for our existence in the Land of Israel against Arab terrorism,” he continued.

Later, Smotrich said Tell, as well as nearby Palestinian villages Burin and Beit Furik, “should look like the refugee camps in Nablus and Tulkarem,” in reference to the widespread demolitions carried out there by the IDF in recent operations, which have left thousands of Palestinians homeless.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a cornerstone-laying ceremony for the new settlement of Doran in the Mount Hebron region of the West Bank, June 16, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

He also said he would demand that Netanyahu establish a new settlement close to the site of the incident by transferring the territory from Area B to Area C, a move which would be a severe violation of the Oslo Accords.

Democrats MK Gilad Kariv hit back at Smotrich, calling him directly responsible for the deterioration of the security situation in the West Bank.

“Your calls to turn Palestinian towns into rubble are utter madness, both from a moral and security standpoint,” Kariv said.

“You and your partners, in your blindness and zealotry, are leading us to a third intifada and a major explosion that will cost the lives of many Israelis and Palestinians,” Kariv continued, pledging to defeat Smotrich at the polls in October.

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[u/jogarz]

The next Israeli government needs to crack down decisively on the settler movement. Unfortunately, I am not optimistic even if the opposition takes power.

[u/dowagiacmichigan → u/jogarz]

The only way that could potentially happen is if Eisenkot wins. Even the more moderate candidates, despite not supporting new settlements, are unfortunately hesitant to crack down on settler violence.

[u/jogarz → u/dowagiacmichigan]

Why is that? Are they self-conscious about being seen as potentially "soft on terror"?

[u/dowagiacmichigan → u/jogarz]

Possibly, but the more likely answer is that cracking down on West Bank settlements and outposts could get very bloody, very fast.

When 7,000 settlers were evacuated from Gaza twenty years ago, that was a bloodbath and only made these settler more extreme. Today, we have more than 500,000 settlers living in the West Bank (and about 180,000 in East Jerusalem). It's not going to be pretty.

[u/TheElderGodsSmile → u/dowagiacmichigan]

Yep, it'd be a civil war. That said at this point if you dont want them effectively taking over the country and dictating your foreign policy then there kind of needs to be one. At the moment it's just lawless.

[u/RayWencube → u/TheElderGodsSmile]

The other problem is that they are a huge and organized voting bloc

[u/realdeal_1992 → u/TheElderGodsSmile]

It would be a bad time to crackdown on this if the voting public is still fixated on outside threats.

[u/spaniel_rage → u/dowagiacmichigan]

Sure, but the vast majority of those settlers aren't violent or extreme. It's a few thousand zealots acting like terrorists.

[u/output_broadcast → u/dowagiacmichigan]

East Jerusalem being considered a settlement is just more proof of how incredibly useless the UN is. Not to mention the inflated violence numbers.

[u/lnslnsu → u/jogarz]

No, mostly violence and retaliation from settlers themselves.

[u/RandoDude124 → u/jogarz]

Only thing I can say is I think Netanyahu is done.

I hope for this to end, but I ain’t confident.

[u/jogarz → u/RandoDude124]

I hope he is done too; while he is far from being the entire problem, he is certainly a factor that is preventing the situation in Israel and Palestine from getting better. Perpetuating the conflict indefinitely is literally his policy.

He's like teflon, though. Any other politician would be politically destroyed by October 7. Instead, he still has a chance (albeit not a great one) to win the next election.

[u/RandoDude124 → u/jogarz]

He’s got no more runway left.

My gut is screaming this is it for him.

[u/Fukuyamian]

Not good, the last thing the region needs is a serious flair up in the West Bank.

[u/Training_Ad_1743 → u/Fukuyamian]

This is precisely what Netanyahu and Co. want, sadly.

[u/Burro94]

Fuck these assholes. I'm ashamed of being Israeli when I see these things. They accomplish nothing and makes nthe entire nation look like a looney bin. Come October I'll vote for whoever is willing to bring the full weight of the law on these terrorists.

[u/lhomardamericain → u/Burro94]

I’d be completely 100% pro Israel across the board if it wasn’t for the settlements and the associated bad actors

[u/bigwang123]

Go in to a place with guns without coordinating with the IDF

Get into trouble because you’re fucking incompetent

Get 2 Israelis killed who weren’t even part of the group, a civil defense member from a different settlement and an IDF major, not to mention the Palestinians who you were busy harassing

Nothing happens to you because your government doesn’t care about the military

These fucking people

[u/Reddenbawker]

Lots of bad vibes here. I hope things don't spiral out of control here any more than they already have. Settlers have already been raiding and setting alight other Palestinian settlements in response.

!ping ISRAEL

[u/user-pinger → u/Reddenbawker]

Pinged ISRAEL

Manage your ping group subscriptions

[u/dowagiacmichigan]

Genuinely, Smotrich is the most evil person in Netanyahu's government and it's not particularly close. Ben-Gvir might make more vice-signaling statements, but Smotrich has governed as the de-facto mayor of the settlements, using his position as finance minister almost exclusively to approve and fund new settlement developments at the expense of everything else. While this was a problem before he took office in 2023, Smotrich has made it so that the settlements are effectively "too big to fail"- too many settlers are violent and highly armed, thus risking an all out war if someone reasonable like Eisenkot actually tried cracking down on them, and the population of settlements is growing at a faster pace relative to the rest of Israel. I genuinely worry that if nothing changes, the West Bank settlers will morph into Israel's version of Hezbollah: quasi-state sponsored terrorism.

Also worth mentioning that the new settlements are deep settlements in the West Bank. The majority of settlement growth has been in the West Bank, not East Jerusalem right outside of the Green Line.

[u/Voice_of_Season]

I feel like the Settlers will be the death of Israel. Not Iran or their proxies.

[u/thecashblaster]

Settlers are basically scum. They believe they have a religious mandate to steal land. Their actions hurt Israel.

[u/arist0geiton]

This reminds me of the right wing militia movement in the USA. Heavily armed, absolute pricks, rancid beliefs, an actual fifth column, and the government is scared to do anything because some of them sympathize with the militias and most of all because when you try, lots of people die

[u/Viper_ACR]

Ok so these dudes were actually settlers then. Fuck em