Seven Palestinians were hospitalized Saturday morning after settlers attacked them in the village of Madama, south of Nablus in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said.
Two men, aged 72 and 53, were shot in the leg, medics said, and a 46-year-old man sustained shrapnel injuries to the face, while two other men, aged 40 and 43, and two women aged 45 and 53, were beaten.
Madama village chief Rami Nassar tells WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, that dozens of settlers from a new outpost north of Madama took part in the attack on shepherds on the village outskirts.
According to Nassar and the Red Crescent, the IDF arrived on the scene and initially prevented the medics from attending to the wounded.
The military and police did not immediately comment.
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Settlers hurled stones at a home and smashed the windows of several cars overnight in the Palestinian town of Beita, also south of Nablus, according to WAFA.
Palestinian media published security camera footage timestamped to 15 minutes past midnight that showed five people clad in dark hoodies wielding clubs and throwing rocks at a home on the outskirts of the town.
Threads of tzitzit, a ritual Jewish undergarment, were seen peeking out from under some of the attackers’ hoodies.
لحظة هجوم المستtوطنين على منطقة جبل بئر قوزا في بلدة بيتا جنوب نابلس واعتدائهم على منازل و ممتلكات المواطنين ليلة أمس . pic.twitter.com/7tuWFS7BkY
— فلسطين بوست (@PalpostN) May 30, 2026
Other footage captured on a hand-held camera showed the attackers smashing a car parked outside a home as people yelled.
At least two cars were vandalized, according to the footage.
عدد من المستوطنين يقتحمون منطقة جبل بئر قوزا في بلدة بيتا جنوب نابلس بالضفة الغربية ويحطمون مركبات فلسطينيين#فيديو pic.twitter.com/LzFSqVrFM2
— قناة الجزيرة (@AJArabic) May 30, 2026
Settler attacks have been taking place on a near-daily basis in the West Bank with almost complete impunity, with critics accusing the government of turning a blind eye to the violence.
The IDF has faced criticism for often standing by while such settler attacks unfold — with troops sometimes actively participating — and police are accused of failing to prosecute those responsible. In contrast, authorities frequently arrest Palestinians who are involved in violent confrontations with settler attackers.
Arrests of alleged Israeli attackers in cases of settler violence are rare and indictments and convictions are even less common.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reportedly told that up to 80 percent of incidents that Israeli troops in the West Bank record are Jewish attacks on Palestinians. The statistic was shared with the premier by an officer in the IDF Central Command during a meeting on Jewish terrorism, the Kan public broadcaster said.
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