At least four Palestinians and three Israelis were killed in a shooting incident in the occupied West Bank near the village of Tal/Tell southwest of Nablus on July 23-24, 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. The Palestinians killed belonged to the same family from Tal/Tell [1, 4, 5]. Among the Israelis, two were soldiers, including a 27-year-old who died during operational activity, and one was a civilian reportedly in his 30s [1, 3, 4, 5].
The violence followed an altercation when about 20 to 30 armed Israeli settlers approached Tal/Tell early on the morning of July 23 or 24 [1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 6]. According to Palestinian accounts, settlers initiated the attack, and Israeli soldiers joined them in firing, with Walid Zidan, head of the Tal village council, saying that "Israeli soldiers were present and together with the settlers began opening fire... it was the settlers who stormed the village, with the intention of killing, vandalising and setting property on fire" [3]. The Palestinian foreign ministry described the incident as a massacre with "the escalation of settler terrorism" backed by the Israeli government and military [1].
The Israeli military offered a different account, saying the violence began after Palestinians attacked Israeli civilians hiking nearby. According to military statements, a Palestinian stole a weapon from a security guard, killed him, and fired on other Israelis before Israeli forces killed the attackers [1, 2, 3, 4].
The clashes involved Palestinian villagers defending their homes, settlers attacking, and Israeli soldiers firing as well [1, 3, 4, 5, 7]. The Israel Defense Forces launched a large-scale operation in the wake of the shootings, arresting between 50 and 70 Palestinians and raiding roughly 70 homes in Tal village [5, 8].
Following the incident, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a firm response, stating, "I will act with full force against the terrorists and those who orchestrate and sponsor them," and promised to accelerate approval of new Israeli settlements in the area [3, 5, 8]. Meanwhile, Israeli settlers reportedly attacked nearby Palestinian communities, setting fire to two mosques and scrawling graffiti amid rising settler violence [7, 8].
Funerals were held on July 26 for the four Palestinians killed in Tal/Tell [9]. Israeli forces continued their raids and arrests in the region as tensions remain high.
