Overview
- Dozens of Israeli settlers marched into towns around Nablus on Friday, July 31, with journalists and residents documenting soldiers along their route and medics reporting at least one Palestinian shot with live fire and at least 11 people, including four children, injured.
- The Israel Defense Forces said Israeli civilians entered Area A and later left and that troops dispersed crowds, while eyewitnesses and video reported soldiers escorting settlers, blocked roads to let marches pass, and at times did not stop vandalism or theft.
- Overnight raids and arrests have continued into August, with Israeli forces detaining multiple Palestinians across Nablus governorate and other West Bank areas, including two 16-year-old boys reported on August 1.
- The incidents follow a deadly clash in Tell that triggered near-daily military raids and settler reprisals and come as the current Israeli government has accelerated settlement approvals and legalisation of outposts.
- Humanitarian groups and U.N. bodies have warned of rising settler attacks, displacement and restricted access to services, and rights groups say the military’s response and the closure of past investigations into settler violence increase the risk of further civilian harm.