Palestinian shot dead by settlers in West Bank after five killed in strike on Tulkarm

Man killed and three others hurt in attack near Bethlehem

Palestinians near the site of a drone strike in Nour Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on August 27. Reuters

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Israeli settlers shot and killed a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank village of Wadi Rahhal, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported on Tuesday, hours after five people were killed in an air attack on Nour Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm.

Khalil Salem Khalawi, 40, died of gunshot wounds while three others were wounded by the settlers, Wafa said, with dozens of people also reportedly hit with smoke bombs.

Settler attacks on the West Bank have increased since the war in Gaza began on October 7. The UN documented at least 1,250 incidents and 120 deaths as of August 12.

Israeli settlers have often been accompanied by soldiers during attacks, setting fire to homes and property. In Jit, near Nablus, one Palestinian was killed and another was critically wounded when settlers opened fire this month.

Wafa reported in June and July that Israeli troops tied Palestinians to their armoured vehicles in the West Bank in two separate incidents.

Israeli vehicles also stormed Tulkarm overnight, accompanied by low-flying reconnaissance aircraft, but no arrests were made, Wafa said.

It comes after they bombed a house in Nour Shams on Monday night, killing five people including two children, according to the news agency.

In Gaza, more strikes were reported in Khan Younis and Deir Al Balah on Tuesday morning, days after the Israeli military issued another eviction order, prompting civilians and NGO workers to leave in waves. The order has reduced the space left to accommodate half of Gaza's population to 13 square kilometres.

“Our humanitarian colleagues are particularly worried about the order,” the UN's humanitarian office OCHA said in a statement on Monday. It “effectively upends a whole lifesaving humanitarian hub that was set up in Deir Al Balah following its evacuation from Rafah back in May”.

The area under the latest order covers 15 premises hosting UN and NGO aid workers, UN warehouses, a water desalination plant and medical facilities, including Al Aqsa hospital, one of only a few operating in Gaza, the OCHA said.

The UN had based its operations in Deir Al Balah after being forced to relocate from Rafah as heavy fighting goes on.

On Tuesday, the UAE condemned comments by far-right Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir suggesting Israel could build a synagogue in the compound of Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

The Al Aqsa Mosque compound is a site considered holy by Muslims, Jews and Christians and is often a focal point of Israeli-Palestinian tension.

“If I could do anything I wanted, I would put an Israeli flag on the site,” Mr Ben-Gvir told Israel's Army Radio. He replied “yes” when asked whether he would build a synagogue there.

The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed “the need for Israel to respect the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and not to tamper with it”.

The ministry reiterated the UAE's position that there was a “need to provide full protection for Al Aqsa Mosque and stop serious and provocative violations”.

The mosque is administered by an Islamic trust that is funded and controlled by Jordan in a security arrangement with Israel, after the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1994. Under the arrangement, Jews are not allowed to pray in the grounds of Al Aqsa compound but can pray at the nearby Western Wall.