19-year-old Palestinian shot dead amid bloody day of West Bank clashes

A 19-year-old Palestinian from East Jerusalem was shot dead on Friday in the central West Bank, in a particularly bloody day of clashes and attacks by settler extremists in the West Bank.

The victim, reportedly shot by Israeli settlers, was identified as Baha al-Natshah and a resident of East Jerusalem’s Kafr Aqab, which is under Israeli jurisdiction.

The Israeli military denied its troops had opened fire, telling The Times of Israel that the incident was being probed by the Israel Police. The police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Palestinian Authority’s health ministry said it was informed of the teen’s death by the PA’s civil affairs ministry, which coordinates with Israel, after his body was confiscated by Israeli authorities.

Kobar’s mayor Mounir Badwan told AFP that residents of his town had tried to pass through a gate recently erected by settlers to keep them inside the village — an increasingly common tactic in the West Bank.

“When the young Palestinians tried to open it, the settlers attacked them,” Kobar’s Mayor Mounir Badwan told AFP. “The army arrived, and they started shooting live bullets,” he claimed.

The IDF denied opening fire in the incident, and the PA health ministry said settlers shot Natshah.

The Israeli army “left him bleeding on the ground and prevented medical teams from reaching him,” the mayor said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed that Israeli forces refused to let it reach an injured person in Kobar.

According to Army Radio, the incident took place outside the illegal Israeli farming outpost of Eretz HaTzvi, which is adjacent to the village of Kobar.

The report claimed that two Palestinians hurled Molotov cocktails at the entrance to the illegal outpost, without causing any injuries or damage.

One of the armed members of the outpost opened fire at the Palestinians, striking one of them. Troops then arrived at the scene and detained both Palestinians, according to the report.

However, a military spokesperson told The Times of Israel on Saturday morning that the IDF was unaware of any firebombs being hurled in the incident, and they said that the gunfire by the Israeli settlers was being investigated by the police.

It was the second such killing in as many days. On Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry said that settler gunfire killed 51-year-old Mashhour Yassin in Yasuf, north of Ramallah.

The Israeli military said at the time that it had responded to Palestinians who were hurling rocks at Israelis, injuring one of them, and that troops opened fire.

Earlier Friday, at least one Palestinian was injured in a settler attack in the village of Beita, south of Nablus in the northern West Bank, the Red Crescent said.

Footage from Beita showed an armed settler, apparently a member of a security squad from one of the nearby settlements, telling Palestinians and accompanying activists that they were not allowed in the area.

Soldiers later removed the Palestinians, with footage showing troops firing tear gas.

مستوطنون مسلحون برفقة قوات الاحتلال يحاولون منع الأهالي من قطف ثمار الزيتون في بلدة بيتا جنوب نابلس pic.twitter.com/AkiGBp6TYP

— شبكة فلسطين للحوار (@paldf) October 2, 2026

According to Palestinian media, settlers also attacked Palestinians who were harvesting olives near the village of Asira al-Shamaliya, north of Nablus, while soldiers reportedly prevented Palestinians from harvesting near the Ramallah-area village of Ni’lin.

On Thursday, settlers were also filmed vandalizing and stealing olives from trees belonging to the nearby village of al-Mughayyir, as IDF soldiers looked on without acting.

Such acts have intensified in recent days amid the start of the annual olive harvest season, which has previously seen an uptick in attacks.

Palestinians are barred from harvesting olives in some areas of the West Bank, free to do so in other areas, and required to receive prior authorization from Israel’s Civil Administration in others.

It was not immediately clear which restrictions applied to the areas where the Palestinians were trying to harvest.

Theft under the protection of the military:
This morning, settlers vandalized olive trees belonging to residents of Al-Mughayyir and stole olives under the protection of Israeli soldiers who were guarding them. pic.twitter.com/aDGFA16jBT

— Yesh Din ييش دين יש דין (@Yesh_Din) October 1, 2026

Also on Friday, the IDF said it had removed from combat duty a soldier who was filmed earlier this week threatening a Palestinian Bedouin man during an apparently unwarranted search of his home.

The soldier was filmed on September 29 threatening a Bedouin man after entering his home on the outskirts of the village of Taybeh, close to Ramallah. In the video, which the soldier then sent to the man’s father, the former can be heard saying that “he will be beaten to a pulp. His eyes will be black and blue.”

According to the father, Mohammed Kaabneh, the incident occurred after settlers pepper-sprayed another of his sons and later entered the family’s home with soldiers and damaged property.

The IDF claimed that troops had been dispatched to the area of the village of Taybeh following a report of a confrontation between Israeli settlers and a Bedouin family.

“Upon their arrival, the troops did not identify any confrontation and conducted an operational search of the house. The troops did not use violence against any of those involved. The conduct of the soldier seen in the video is inconsistent with the IDF’s values. Following an investigation into the incident, the soldier faced disciplinary proceedings, at the conclusion of which it was decided to remove him from combat duty,” the IDF said.

"הבן שלך מפורק מכות": פורעים יהודים פרצו לבית משפחה בדואית בשטח B, שברו הרסו תקפו את אחד הילדים וחייל שהיה איתם שלח סרטון מאיים מהבית לאבא. pic.twitter.com/3BdLCqOlVg

— כרמלה מנשה (@ela1949) October 1, 2026

Settler violence in the West Bank has risen sharply since the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza.

Well over 100 illegal outposts have mushroomed across the West Bank during the tenure of the current hardline government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The wildcat communities are home to some of the most extremist settlers and have also become hotbeds to attacks against Palestinians, which go almost entirely unpunished.

Settler attacks against Palestinians, including beatings, vandalism and arson, averaged six a day in the first half of the year, according to the United Nations. Israel argues that those figures are inflated and Netanyahu has sought to downplay the assailants as juvenile delinquents, while insisting that the state is taking the phenomenon seriously.

The unchecked settler violence, along with unprecedented settlement construction, has led to over a dozen Western countries announcing sanctions against Israel.

President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday said settler violence “can be stopped” and accused the government of failing to do everything it can to stop it.

The Jewish extremist violence has intensified inside Israel proper as well.

On Thursday, Herzog spoke with Ahmed al-Hussein, a Palestinian man from East Jerusalem who was assaulted by an ultra-Orthodox mob outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate earlier this week.

Husseini’s assault was livestreamed on social media, with the person filming the incident heard declaring in delight, “Wow, they’re f**cking up an Arab.”

“I wanted to express my deep sorrow to you,” Herzog said, according to a readout from the President’s Residence. “I was truly saddened to see what happened to you, and I think the entire people of Israel were deeply pained to see this incident. This should never happen. No elderly person, and no person whatsoever, should be treated this way. I strongly condemn the violence against you.”

Haaretz also reported on Friday that at least six Arab bus drivers were physically assaulted in racially motivated attacks by Jewish youth on Wednesday in Jerusalem.

The attacks involved teens spitting on drivers, throwing rocks and beating them in various locations throughout the city, Haaretz said. Only one minor was arrested in connection with one of the cases.