Israeli Settler Violence Escalates in the West Bank

Time​ Magazine

17-07-2025

Residents across the occupied West Bank say they have been targeted in a wave of attacks by Israeli settlers this week, following the killing of a Palestinian-American man near Sinjil.
In Burqa, villagers describe coordinated arson that set dozens of cars ablaze and forced some families to seek medical help for smoke inhalation.
'This is not the first and is not going to be the last attack from these settlers,' Sayel Kanan, the mayor of Burqa, tells TIME. 'They [settlers] come with impunity, and the army just stands by to protect them.' Kanan added that the flames from the attacks reached the windows of some homes, forcing residents to seek first aid.
'The Israeli military arrived in a few minutes. They stayed at the side of the settlers to make sure that nobody came close or hurt them,' he claims. The Israeli military said it is reviewing reports related to both incidents.
The attacks are part of a sharp uptick in settler violence since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023. In the West Bank alone, nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers since then, according to United Nations figures.
The violence escalated following the killing of Sayfollah Musallet, a 20-year-old Palestinian-American from Florida, who his family says was beaten to death by Israeli settlers near Sinjil while trying to protect his family's land.
Muhammad Al-Shalabi, 23, was also killed during the same attack, after allegedly being shot in the chest by Israeli settlers. Another 58 Palestinians were reported injured during the violence in Sinjil, according to the U.N.
Muhammad's uncle, Samer Al-Shalabi, tells TIME that Muhammad went to the area near Sinjil to protect land that was being damaged by Israeli settlers. He says the family did not find his nephew's body until 10:30pm on Friday, hours after he had been shot.
'Before Friday, we were joking with Muhammad, we were preparing for him whether he should get married or not at this time,' he says. 'All the preparation, all the memories, all the dreams we had together are lost, in just a second it disappeared.'
Al-Shalabi claims it took 'more than one hour' for the Israeli army to allow the ambulances to go in.
The IDF said that six people were arrested in connection with the murders, but have since been released and issued with a 15-day ban on entering the West Bank. TIME has reached out to the Israeli Police for further updates regarding the incident in Sinjil on Friday.
In a separate incident this week, the Christian West Bank town of Taybeh was also targeted by settlers, who reportedly set fires near a 5th century church and attacked homes in the area last week.
Democrat Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York said he was 'horrified by the brutal murder' of Musallet.
'Reports that the settlers prevented ambulances from reaching the victims and IDF soldiers were also present but failed to intervene are deeply disturbing. Violence in the West Bank has reached epidemic levels,' he wrote on social media.
Meanwhile, four British bishops have written a letter to the U.K. government, calling on it to act in response to growing Israeli settler violence in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The Israel-Hamas war started after Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing over 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. At least 58,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed since then, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Since the start of the war, at least 964 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military and settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to the U.N. 35 Israelis have also been killed in the territory by Palestinians or during clashes within that same period.
The British government—alongside Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway—recently sanctioned two far-right Israeli ministers for inciting 'extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights' in the West Bank.
Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have both been vocal about their support of the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law.