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Settler shoots Palestinian in West Bank; reports say he was mentally disabled
An Israeli settler shot and wounded a Palestinian man who threatened him with a rock, police said Saturday, while Palestinian media reported that the man was mentally disabled.
According to police, the Palestinian man arrived at an outpost farm near the northern West Bank village of Duma “already armed with a large stone and began to go wild and behave suspiciously, and, at a certain point, threatened a local resident who approached to inquire about his actions and attempted to attack him with the stone.”
At that point, the settler felt threatened and shot and “neutralized” the man, police said.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA quoted Red Crescent medics as saying that the man, 29, was mentally disabled and had been shot in the stomach and leg.
According to the Haaretz news site, the man was taken to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus for treatment.
Speaking to the news outlet, Duma Mayor Suleiman Dawabsheh said the man’s condition was stable.
مستوطنون يهاجمون منزلاً في عرب الكعابنة شرق الطيبة قرب رام الله pic.twitter.com/ybtgUwCCDd
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) June 13, 2026
IDF troops and police officers were present at the scene at the time of the shooting, Dawabsheh added. Following the incident, soldiers allegedly handcuffed the man’s hands and feet and held him for more than an hour.
Dawabsheh went on to claim that Israeli security forces prevented Red Crescent medics and an ambulance from reaching the scene for the hour that he was detained.
Palestinian media reported other violent incidents throughout the West Bank on Saturday.
Dozens of settlers attacked a home in the Bedouin community of Arab al-Kaabneh east of Ramallah, WAFA reported, citing the Al-Baydar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights.
Bedouin and Palestinian herding communities, tribes that have lived in the West Bank for decades, have long been under attack by violent settlers. According to United Nations figures, 117 such communities have been partially or fully displaced between January 2023 and April 2026.
مستوطنون يسرقون أنابيب مياه من احد المنازل قرب بئر المياه خلايل اللوز في بيت لحم pic.twitter.com/3Z5VwItvhM
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) June 13, 2026
WAFA also reported that employees of the Jerusalem District Electricity Company were attacked by settlers carrying out maintenance work in the West Bank village of Wadi Rahhal near Bethlehem.
Citing Palestinian security sources, the outlet said several workers were lightly injured, while their vehicle was heavily damaged.
According to WAFA, settlers also vandalized property and stole water pipes near the town of Khalayel Al-Loz, southeast of Bethlehem. Palestinian security sources reportedly said that the water pipes were near a reservoir that supplies locals with drinking water.
Critics have accused the government and law enforcement of turning a blind eye to violent attacks by settler extremists, which have become increasingly deadly in recent years and occur on a near-daily basis. Arrests are rare, and prosecutions are even less common.
