The Palestinian Authority said Monday that Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinians aged 15 and 19, who, according to the IDF, had hurled Molotov cocktails at the southern West Bank settlement of Karmei Tzur overnight.
Troops of the 636th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit were waiting in an ambush late Sunday when they identified several suspects setting fire to tires and throwing firebombs at the settlement, which is located near the Palestinian village of Beit Ummar, the military said.
“The troops opened fire and eliminated two terrorists and neutralized another terrorist,” the IDF said, adding that the forces began searching for additional suspects. No other injuries were reported.
Firefighters worked to put out the blaze sparked by the burning tires outside the settlement, the military added.
The PA’s General Authority of Civil Affairs identified the dead as 15-year-old Reda Awad and 19-year-old Issa Awad (no immediate relation) and said Israeli forces detained both their bodies.
Their deaths brought the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers this year to 70, according to the PA’s official news agency, WAFA.
The outlet said two other young men were also wounded by IDF gunfire in the incident, and were hospitalized in stable condition.
Meanwhile, WAFA reported that settlers set fire overnight to a Palestinian car lot in the Ramallah-area village of Shuqba.
The flames “spread quickly and caused great material harm,” WAFA said. No arrests or injuries were reported.
مستوطنون يضرمون النيران في ممتلكات المواطنين ببلدة شقبا غرب رام الله في الضفة الغربية pic.twitter.com/Dbrrsbqug6
— التلفزيون العربي (@AlarabyTV) June 21, 2026
Violence in the West Bank has spiked since the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza.
According to the Palestinian Authority, over 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers since then. The IDF has said that most of those killed were gunmen, rioters who clashed with troops, or terrorists carrying out attacks.
During the same period, over 65 civilians and Israeli security personnel have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in clashes during raids in Palestinian cities in the West Bank.
Last month, the IDF told the government that Jewish attacks on Palestinians accounted for up to 80 percent of incidents that Israeli troops were recording in the West Bank.
The settler attacks are rarely prosecuted, though they have reached a record pace of six a day on average, the United Nations said last week.
Times of Israel staff and agencies contributed to this report.
Source:
www.timesofisrael.com
