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Elderly man said injured as settlers attack Palestinians, foreign volunteers in West Bank
Extremist Israeli settlers attacked local Palestinian residents in the West Bank on Friday as well as foreign volunteers who were assisting them, causing multiple injuries, according to Palestinian media reports.
Footage circulated online showed dozens of settlers throwing stones near the village of Abu Falah, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Ramallah in the central West Bank.
Wafa, the Palestinian Authority’s state news agency, asserted that dozens of settlers assaulted the group of locals and foreign activists on the road linking Abu Falah and nearby Turmus Ayya, preventing them from reaching their land.
Another clip showed a Palestinian man holding a stick confronting several settlers while others attempted to separate the sides.
In one video, a settler can be heard telling the Palestinian in Arabic, “Go away,” to which the Palestinian replies, also in Arabic, “This is my land.”
According to Palestinian media, one Palestinian and several foreign volunteers were injured after settlers sprayed them with pepper spray.
???? فيديو | مستوطنون يهاجمون أهالي قرية أبو فلاح شرق رام الله خلال محاولتهم الوصول إلى أراضيهم. pic.twitter.com/zMk5SWcZDs
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) July 3, 2026
The wounded Palestinian was an elderly man, Wafa said.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, Wafa reported another settler attack, this time on the Ramallah-area village of Beitillu, where three Palestinians were injured, including one with a broken arm.
The settlers also stole the Palestinians’ mobile phones, the report claimed.
متضامنون أجانب في حالة صدمة؛ نتيجة مهاجمة المستوطنين الإسرائيليين لهم وللأهالي الفلسطينيين في قرية أبو فلاح شمال شرق رام الله، واستخدامهم رذاذ الفلفل. pic.twitter.com/Ib5J3iVMQY
— Tamer | تامر (@tamerqdh) July 3, 2026
Settler attacks on Palestinians take place on a daily basis in the West Bank, often with the tacit approval or active participation of IDF soldiers, including settlers tasked with protecting their own communities as part of the IDF reserves.
The attacks, which have spiked since the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, are rarely prosecuted. However, six teenagers were indicted Friday on terror charges for allegedly attacking Palestinians in the Ramallah area earlier this month, including setting fire to a mosque with worshipers inside.
IDF detains 8 for allegedly attacking Israelis
Meanwhile, after a group of Israelis was attacked when they entered the West Bank village of Mukhmas on Thursday, the IDF said Friday that troops detained eight Palestinian suspects in connection with the incident.
The Israelis, a group of around 10 Hassidic Jews, had been on the run from the police after committing traffic violations.
The cops stopped chasing them as they fled into Mukhmas early Thursday morning. Later, the group left the village.
The military said that commandos of the Duvdevan Unit raided Mukhmas on Thursday and apprehended “eight wanted men suspected of chasing and attacking the Israeli citizens who entered the village.”
Commenting on a separate West Bank incident that took place on Thursday, the IDF said that the incident in which a Palestinian man entered a West Bank settlement farm was not an attack as initially claimed.
“Following an investigation of the incident by security forces, the suspicion of an attempted car ramming attack was ruled out,” the army said.
The suspect had entered a farm near the settlement of Karmei Zur. The police claimed he assaulted a settler there and tried to ram him with his car.
He was detained not long after by security forces at the Metzadot Yehuda Crossing.
