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Four Palestinians and an Israeli were killed Friday in the latest eruption of West Bank violence, after Israeli settlers entered a village near Nablus and clashes broke out, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Israel's military said it was preparing an "extensive" counterterrorism operation in the West Bank in response, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to "act with full force against the terrorists and those who orchestrate and sponsor them."
The Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry said four people were killed and four others were wounded, three of them critically, in the village.
Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency service announced a man in his thirties was pronounced dead near the Havat Gilad settlement outpost, and two others in their twenties were evacuated by helicopter with gunshot wounds, one in serious condition.
Israeli media identified the Israeli victim as Benayahu Mellet, 32, a member of a "civil defense squad."
According to a military investigation cited by the Israeli army, a group of Israelis, including children, entered Areas A and B of the West Bank, zones normally off-limits to Israeli civilians, on what the army described as an uncoordinated "hike."
As the group reached the southern outskirts of the village near a mosque, a violent confrontation broke out with dozens of Palestinians, and Israeli settlers fired shots into the air, a military official reportedly said.
A civilian security coordinator from Havat Gilad and another civil defense squad member arrived at the scene, followed by an Israeli army company commander and platoon commander who tried to disperse the clash, the military probe found.
One of the Palestinians then allegedly seized an assault rifle from an armed Israeli civilian and opened fire, killing Mellet and wounding at least four other Israelis, the military said.
The army said its platoon commander returned fire and killed the Palestinian gunman.
Three more Palestinians were killed, and four others were wounded in the incident, and the military said it was still investigating how they were shot.
Palestinian officials disputed the military's account.
Walid Zidan, head of the village council, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that about 20 Israeli settlers entered the village around 8:30 a.m. and later moved to the nearby Qabala area.
"Villagers came out to defend their homes and property. Clashes and physical altercations broke out between the residents and the settlers," Zidan said, adding that "Israeli soldiers were present and, together with the settlers, began opening fire; it was the settlers who stormed the village, with the intention of killing, vandalizing and setting property on fire."
Essam Saifi, a local Fatah party leader from the village, told Reuters that 25 to 30 Jewish settlers initially attacked the eastern part of the village and tried to break into two houses before residents confronted them and the settlers opened fire.
About half an hour later, Saifi said, the Israelis returned and attacked the western part of the village, striking a minor with a weapon, causing chaos before Israeli soldiers arrived and began shooting alongside the settlers.
The Israeli military said it had postponed soldiers' leave across the West Bank and begun deploying additional forces in the area, including ahead of Mellet's funeral, to prevent "confrontations" between Israelis and Palestinians.
A military official said there had been an "atmosphere" of revenge since the incident, with calls circulating to enter Palestinian villages and carry out attacks, and said the army's main goal in the coming hours was to maintain order.
Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir ordered additional troops deployed to the area and instructed forces to "apprehend the terrorists involved in the attack," the military said.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said "terror will not prevail," adding, "In the face of murderous terror seeking to harm our lives and our security, we must stand united and resolute."
Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on the army to act with an "iron fist" against the village, writing on X: "I demand that the IDF act with an iron fist against the village of the murderers and its surroundings and restore governance and deterrence."
Smotrich also offered "heartfelt condolences to the family of the murdered" and called settlers "the defensive wall of the State of Israel."
Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for the destructive approach used by the Israeli military in Beit Hanoun, Gaza, to be applied to Palestinian villages in the West Bank.
"I will demand that the Israeli army issue orders to destroy the homes" of Palestinians involved in the attack and their supporters, Ben-Gvir wrote on X.
"For every Jew killed, the enemy must bear the loss of land and homes," he added.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned what it called a "massacre committed by settlers in partnership with the occupation forces in the village," saying the four Palestinians killed included two brothers.
The ministry accused Israeli authorities of enabling settler violence through "protection, impunity, and official incitement" and described the attacks as part of a policy tied to "annexation and ethnic cleansing."
It called on the international community to impose sanctions on the settlement enterprise, including banning settlement goods and activating universal jurisdiction to prosecute those responsible.
Zidan said no funeral date had been set for the Palestinian victims because of an Israeli siege around the village, and he called for international protection for residents.
"There is widespread incitement by Israeli leaders," he said, adding, "We say that it is the settlers who attack Palestinians, assault homes and seize land, leaving residents with no option but to defend themselves."
Grieving relatives gathered at the two hospitals in Nablus, where the victims' bodies were taken, an AFP journalist reported.
The Israeli military imposed a temporary closure on Nablus and the village, and Israeli troops set up roadblocks in the area, the military said.
Violence in the West Bank has intensified since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, with a rise in settler attacks on Palestinians and Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, alongside about three million Palestinians.
All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law.
Official Israeli figures show at least 47 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations since the start of the Gaza war.
1,182 Palestinians have been killed and about 24,000 arrested by Israeli forces over the same period.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Friday's deaths and a separate killing raised the number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers since the beginning of 2026 to 86, including 65 by Israeli forces and 21 by settlers.
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