Palestinian killed in West Bank as violence surges during Iran war

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A Palestinian man was killed on Saturday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, in an ongoing wave of violence in the West Bank that has claimed the lives of 22 people since the start of the Iran war.

Israel’s military said it responded to a violent riot in the village of Deir Jarir, northeast of Ramallah. A soldier in the reserves shot a Palestinian, who was evacuated for medical treatment and later died at the hospital. The Health Ministry identified him as Ali Majed Hamadneh, 23.

The military said it opened an investigation, although Palestinians and rights groups say Israeli routinely fails to hold settlers or soldiers accountable for violence. The Israeli military declined to comment on whether the reservist was on duty during the incident or involved in the riot as a civilian.

Fathi Hamdan, head of the Deir Jarir Village Council, said Hamadneh was shot by a settler in civilian clothes, and that the military only responded to the incident after the shooting.

So far this year, 33 Palestinians have been killed, two thirds during the Iran war in March. Settlers have killed at least eight of the Palestinians.

In 2025, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported 240 Palestinians were killed in the territory, with the vast majority by Israel’s military and nine people, or less than four percent, killed by Israeli settlers.

The wave of violence comes as Israel’s government approved the establishment of 34 new settlements in the West Bank, according to the settlement monitoring rights group Peace Now. The organization said the Security Cabinet approved the new settlements on April 1 but kept the approval under wraps during the war with Iran to avoid straining relations with the U.S.

Some of the approved settlements included neighborhoods of existing settlements that received independent designation, while others were small, unrecognized outposts and farms that received official approval, according to Peace Now. The monitoring group condemned the “frenzy” of approvals as an election ploy to appeal to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing supporters ahead of Israeli elections due later this year.

“The establishment of settlements harms security, places an abnormal burden on the IDF, and undermines the possibility of resolving the conflict and achieving any future security and peace,” Peace Now said, referring to the Israeli military by its acronym.

Several right-wing politicians celebrated the spate of new settlement approvals during a ceremony on Friday marking the establishment of new settlement. “Israel’s political decisions in Judea and Samaria are completely killing off the idea of separate states and the founding of a terror state in the heart (of Israel),” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said.

The government has established a total of 102 new settlements since 2023, according to Peace Now.