Israeli settlers injured five Palestinians, including two with gunshot wounds, in a fresh attack against a village in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian official said Saturday, while the military reported a 'violent confrontation' in the area.
Palestinian news agency WAFA said a group of settlers attacked in the area of Rashayda, near the village of Kisan, "firing live ammunition".
Musa Abayat, the mayor of the area east of Bethlehem, told AFP that two people were hospitalized with gunshot wounds and three others beaten with sharp objects or hit by stones.
"The settlers also stole 100 sheep," Abayat said, decrying "daily attacks" by settlers in this part of the West Bank.
The Israeli military said there was a "violent confrontation" involving Israeli civilians who fired toward Palestinians.
"As a result of the incident, an Israeli civilian was injured and evacuated to the hospital for medical treatment," it said in a statement to AFP.
"Two additional Palestinians were evacuated by the Red Crescent for medical treatment."
Israeli police had detained two Israeli civilians who fired their weapons, while three Palestinians were also apprehended, the military added.
There has been a spike in deadly settler attacks in the West Bank in recent days, with at least five Palestinians killed since the start of March, according to Palestinian authorities and the United Nations.
Violence more broadly in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has also risen sharply since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war. It has continued despite a ceasefire since October 10.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,045 Palestinians, many of them militants, but also scores of civilians, in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures.
At least 45 Israelis, including both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to official Israeli figures.
