One Palestinian killed in Israeli settler attack on West Bank village | West Bank

Dozens of Israeli settlers, some masked, attacked a Palestinian village near the town of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank, burning cars and killing at least one person.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said one Palestinian was killed and another seriously injured by gunfire from Israeli settlers in the attack in the village of Jit. It was the latest in a series of attacks by violent settlers in the West Bank.

Footage shared on social media showed burning cars and houses after the attacks.

The Israeli military said police and army units intervened and arrested an Israeli. It condemned the attack, which diverted security forces from other tasks, and said it would investigate reports of the Palestinian's death.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying the attack was viewed with “utmost severity.”

“Those responsible for any crime will be arrested and brought to justice,” it said.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the attack as a “pogrom.”

“I strongly condemn tonight’s pogrom in Samaria,” Herzog wrote on X, formerly Twitter, using the name of the biblical province that corresponds to the northern West Bank.

“This is an extreme minority that harms the law-abiding settler population and the settlement as a whole, as well as Israel's name and standing in the world at a particularly sensitive and difficult time,” he added.

Palestinians regularly accuse Israeli security forces of standing idly by and allowing groups of violent settlers to attack their homes and villages. These attacks are also causing increasing international concern.

Since the Gaza war began on October 7, violence in the West Bank has increased and the number of Israeli settlements – which are considered illegal under international law – has reached new record levels.

The White House said late Thursday that settler attacks on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank were “unacceptable and must stop.”

“Israeli authorities must take action to protect all communities from harm. This includes intervening to stop this violence and holding all perpetrators of this violence accountable,” a White House spokesman said.

Netanyahu governs with the support of right-wing extremist parties that favor further Israeli settlements in the West Bank or even direct annexation. His right-wing finance minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on X that the attackers in Jit had “nothing to do with the settlement and the settlers.”

“They are criminals who must be dealt with by law enforcement to the full extent of the law,” he added.

The United States and a number of European countries have imposed sanctions on violent settlers and have repeatedly called on Israel to do more to stop the attacks.

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report