Palestinians bury four killed in West Bank village of Tell after clash with Israeli settlers

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank village of Tell buried four men on Saturday who were killed during a clash with Israeli settlers the previous day, local officials said.

Israeli forces restricted attendance at the funeral, with only around 30 people permitted to be present, according to Walid Zidan, head of the Tell village council.

What happened in the Tell village West Bank clash?

Around 20 Israelis from a nearby settlement entered Tell on Friday and clashed with residents defending their property. A Palestinian villager seized one settler's weapon and shot him dead, leading an armed emergency response team from a nearby settlement to arrive, with further gunfire killing four Palestinians and a second Israeli.

Israeli forces closed gates and checkpoints across the West Bank following the incident, severely restricting movement. By the time of the overnight funeral, the military remained present in Tell, having detained 51 residents for questioning and released only six. Ghassan Daghlas, governor of the Nablus region, which includes Tell, was among the few who attended the funeral procession.

How does the Tell village incident fit into broader West Bank violence?

Violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has surged since the Gaza war began on October 7, 2023. According to an AFP tally, Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed at least 1,094 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the war. Israeli figures show that at least 48 Israelis were killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations during the same period.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. More than 500,000 Israelis now live in settlements across the West Bank, excluding east Jerusalem, in a territory home to around three million Palestinians. Those settlements are considered illegal under international law.