The Palestinian Authority health ministry said Sunday that two Palestinians were killed in a settler attack overnight in the West Bank, less than a day after another man was reportedly killed amid a clash with Israeli settlers.

The latest armed attack took place in the village of Abu Falah, near Ramallah, it reported. The victims were identified as 24-year-old Thaer Hama’el and 57-year-old Fares Hama’el.

Initial Palestinian reports identified a third casualty, but the health ministry did not immediately confirm his death.

Palestinian media reported that all three were shot during a settler raid of their village.

The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Five Palestinians have been reported killed in confrontations with settlers in recent days, four by settlers and one by an IDF reservist, as attacks by Israeli extremists throughout the West Bank continue on a near-daily basis with almost complete impunity.

BREAKING: Israeli settlers murdered two Palestinians from the village of Abu Falah—24-year-old Thaer Hamayel and 57-year-old Fare’e Hamayel—during a pogrom on the village. pic.twitter.com/3tovgFEGLe — Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) March 8, 2026

BREAKING: Israeli settlers murdered two Palestinians from the village of Abu Falah—24-year-old Thaer Hamayel and 57-year-old Fare’e Hamayel—during a pogrom on the village. pic.twitter.com/3tovgFEGLe

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) March 8, 2026

????متابعة | تواجد مكثّف لسيارات الإسعاف وحشود من الأهالي في خربة أبو فلاح شرق رام الله، عقب هجوم نفذته مجموعات من المستوطنين على الخربة، . pic.twitter.com/DWjcA0SSDr — شبكة يافا الإخبارية (@yaffa_ps) March 8, 2026

????متابعة | تواجد مكثّف لسيارات الإسعاف وحشود من الأهالي في خربة أبو فلاح شرق رام الله، عقب هجوم نفذته مجموعات من المستوطنين على الخربة، . pic.twitter.com/DWjcA0SSDr

— شبكة يافا الإخبارية (@yaffa_ps) March 8, 2026

On Saturday, the PA said Amir Shenaran, 27, was shot dead by a settler in the Palestinian village of Wadi al-Rakhim, in the collection of hamlets known as Masafer Yatta.

But the IDF Military Police said a preliminary investigation had found that the shooter was a reservist soldier who arrived on the scene after being alerted to the confrontations between Palestinians and settlers.

תקיפת פלסטינים בעיירה אבו פלאח, מצפון־מזרח לרמאללהשימוש לפי סעיף 27א' לחוק זכויות יוצרים pic.twitter.com/sqp5XAyMcN — הארץ חדשות (@haaretznewsvid) March 8, 2026

תקיפת פלסטינים בעיירה אבו פלאח, מצפון־מזרח לרמאללהשימוש לפי סעיף 27א' לחוק זכויות יוצרים pic.twitter.com/sqp5XAyMcN

— הארץ חדשות (@haaretznewsvid) March 8, 2026

Palestinian media reported that Shenaran’s 33-year-old brother was critically wounded by settler gunfire in the same incident, while their father and uncle, as well as a woman, were reportedly hospitalized after being beaten by the settlers. The Palestinian reports said the brothers were shot while trying to fend off settlers who brought livestock to graze near the brothers’ family home.

Last Monday, the PA said two Palestinian men were shot dead by settlers in the Palestinian village of Qaryut, south of Nablus in the northern West Bank.

Israeli human rights group Yesh Din has reported a spike in already rampant settler violence amid the war in Iran that began on February 28, with some 50 incidents recorded in the first four days of the conflict.

Settler violence had already risen sharply since the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, according to the United Nations. Including the weekend deaths, a total of five Palestinians have been killed by settlers this year, and 41 since the October 7 attack, according to WAFA, the official Palestinian Authority news agency.

Data published by the IDF and Shin Bet security agency in January showed a 27 percent rise in settler attacks in 2025 compared to the previous year.

In addition to the overall rise in settler attacks, 2025 also saw an increase in the number of serious incidents that included shootings, arson and other violent crimes, with 128 compared to 83 in 2024 and 54 in 2023, according to the data.

Extremist Jewish attacks, which now occur on a near-daily basis, largely go unchecked. Prosecutions are rare, and convictions are even rarer. Critics have accused the government, the most hard-right in Israel’s history, of shrugging off the attacks.

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