As Israel and the United States conduct airstrikes against Iran, restrictions on movement across the occupied West Bank implemented by the Israeli military have coincided with a spike in violent incidents by Israeli settlers, according to rights groups, medics and residents. Military roadblocks, iron gates and earth mounds erected at key roads, along with largely closed crossings into Israel, have limited access for emergency services and left remote Palestinian communities more exposed, they say.
Overview
Rights organisations and medical personnel report that since air operations began on February 28, settlers have killed at least five Palestinians in the West Bank. A separate death was reported by Israeli rights watchdog B’Tselem as likely resulting from inhaling teargas fired during an attack. The Palestinian health ministry provided the tally of the fatal shootings.
The Israeli military has described the movement curbs as precautionary steps while it conducts strikes not only against Iranian targets but also against the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which has exchanged missile fire with Israel in solidarity with Tehran. The military says it condemns "violence of any kind" and has opened an investigation into at least one of the incidents.
Pre-dawn attack in Abu Falah
One of the deadliest episodes occurred before dawn in the village of Abu Falah, north of Ramallah. Residents and health officials say two men were shot dead by settlers. One victim, Thaer, was remembered by his wife who said, "Thaer loved life. I never expected he would die," as she sat with their two children.
Villagers described an escalation that began when more than 100 settlers gathered on the village outskirts. Local men mobilised through a WhatsApp group to protect the small community. Initial clashes involved stone throwing, those present said, and later armed settlers arrived and began firing. A man who helped defend the village said Thaer was shot while attempting to protect a home.
Blood remained visible on olive groves near the scene on the following day, and villagers placed two Palestinian flags at the locations where the two men were killed. A third person later died in connection with the episode; B’Tselem reported that this death was probably caused by the effects of teargas fired by Israeli troops who were deployed to the village during the attack.
Emergency response hampered
Medics say the new road closures and military emplacement have delayed ambulances and complicated rescuers' efforts. Ahmed Jibril, a spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service, said, "There are obstacles - and even attacks by settlers and the military on the (medical) crews." The difficulty in reaching injured people has, according to medical sources quoted in reports, made it harder to deliver timely care.
Scope of settler violence
Monitoring groups have documented a sharp rise in reports of settler attacks since the start of the air campaign. Israeli group Yesh Din recorded more than 109 incidents of settler violence in the West Bank since the beginning of the war with Iran, encompassing shootings, physical assaults, destruction of property and threats.
B’Tselem noted that all reported killings of Palestinians by settlers this year occurred within the last week. Specific cases cited by the Palestinian health ministry include the shooting death of Amir Muhammad Shanaran in a village near Hebron, and the killing of brothers Muhammad and Fahim ‘Azem in Qaryut, southeast of Nablus.
Yesh Din additionally reported that in three of the shootings, the attackers were wearing Israeli army uniforms. Palestinians accuse the military of shielding settlers rather than protecting villagers; the military rejects that charge.
Accountability and legal follow-up
Israeli indictments of settler violence have been infrequent in recent years, according to Yesh Din. At the end of 2025, Yesh Din said that of the hundreds of incidents its teams had documented following the Hamas-led attacks on Israel in October 2023 that sparked the Gaza war, only 2% had resulted in indictments. That low rate of legal action is cited by rights groups as part of a broader concern about impunity in cases involving settlers.
Displacement and settlement expansion
The United Nations reported that nearly 700 Palestinians were displaced by settler violence from the start of 2025 through early February 2026. Meanwhile, the Israeli government has continued an expansion of settlements. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is quoted by officials as saying that this construction push is intended to bury the concept of a Palestinian state.
Right-wing Israeli minister Yossi Dagan announced the establishment of a new settlement on a mountain overlooking Nablus on Wednesday. That is among 22 new settlements the government declared last May, officials say.
Demographics and international legal view
Palestinians continue to seek an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, territories Israel captured and has occupied since the 1967 war. According to a European Union report from 2024, over 700,000 Israeli settlers live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank among more than 3 million Palestinians. Most of the international community regards Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank as illegal under rules governing military occupations; Israel disputes that interpretation.
Local perspectives and continuing tensions
Villagers in remote areas say the roadblocks have left them more exposed to settler attacks and that the army has continued to carry out raids in Palestinian towns and cities that are similar to operations conducted during peacetime to arrest Palestinians, often without charge, they report. Human rights organisations maintain that armed settler militias, sometimes operating with the support of the army, have increased harassment and attacks on Palestinian communities in efforts they say aim to force people out of their homes.
The Israeli military has said it launched an investigation into the incident in Abu Falah and reiterated its official stance condemning "violence of any kind." Beyond that, and the reported investigations, the legal and security outcomes of the recent spate of attacks remain uncertain.
What remains unclear
While monitoring groups and medical services have provided incident counts and accounts from villagers, the full scope of how movement restrictions linked to the air campaign have altered patterns of violence, response times and longer-term displacement will depend on outcomes of ongoing investigations and further documentation by rights and aid organisations. Statements by officials and the military are part of the record, but community sources emphasise immediate impacts on safety and emergency medical access in affected areas.
Reporting for this piece relied on statements from rights groups, Palestinian health authorities, medics and villagers, as well as official statements by the Israeli military and Israeli government ministers cited in public announcements.