Palestinian killed in Israeli settler attack on West Bank village

Israeli settlers shot two Palestinians, killing 51-year-old Mashour Yassin and wounding the other, during an attack on the West Bank village of Yasuf on Oct 1. The assailants approached from the direction of a nearby settler outpost, according to accounts of the incident.¹²³

Attack on Yasuf

Yassin was shot at his home on the outskirts of Yasuf, according to reports citing the village account. Jumaa Abdel Fattah, who heads the Yasuf village council, said attacks had continued since the nearby outpost was established about two months earlier. “The settlers have been attacking the village continuously since the outpost was established,” he said.¹²³

The Independent reported that settlers shot the two Palestinians before Israeli troops arrived. According to the newspaper, the military later broke up a gathering of Palestinians and shot toward them, saying Palestinians had hurled stones at Israelis who were nearing the village. These details of the sequence were reported by a single source. The military said it was checking the incident, while a later report said the Israel Defense Forces was investigating it.¹²³

Clashes elsewhere in the West Bank

The Jerusalem Post said that multiple incidents involving settlers and Palestinians occurred throughout the West Bank over the Sukkot holiday week. It said the IDF intervened in clashes in Beita connected to disputes over the olive harvest. Gunfire was reportedly heard there, although no injuries were reported.³

It also said settlers stoned Palestinians in the communities of Burin and Asira al Qibliya, which lie south of Nablus. Palestinian accounts said that one or more people sustained injuries. Shira Ben Sasson, who serves as a director at the New Israel Fund, denounced the violence, saying: “We call for the prosecution of the attackers and the killers.”³

Settlements and the wider conflict

Israel took control of the West Bank in 1967, and it has remained under Israeli military occupation ever since. The United Nations and most countries consider Israeli settlements there unlawful under the international rules applying to military occupation. Israel rejects that interpretation and maintains that the territory’s status is disputed. Outposts have expanded under the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.¹²

Rights groups say the growing settler presence around Palestinian villages forms part of an effort to take land and move further into territory sought for a Palestinian state. Reported figures indicate that Israeli troops and settlers have killed over 80 Palestinians in the West Bank since 2026 began.¹²