Yehuda Sherman was buried on a Sunday afternoon. By nightfall, Palestinian villages near Nablus were burning.

The 18-year-old Israeli settler died in a collision with a Palestinian vehicle on Saturday. Police are investigating whether the crash was deliberate or accidental. But in the WhatsApp groups used by settlers, the distinction barely mattered. “Jews won’t remain silent over spilled Jewish blood,” read one message. “We demand vengeance and expulsion of the enemy.”

More than 20 attacks followed overnight Saturday, according to an Israeli defence official cited by local media. Then came Sunday’s funeral at Elon Moreh settlement, attended by more than 500 mourners including Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich. By Sunday evening, settlers had rampaged through at least four villages near Nablus — torching homes and cars, beating residents, and leaving at least 10 Palestinians wounded, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

The wounded included a 45-year-old man shot in the foot and a woman hospitalized for smoke inhalation. Videos obtained by the Associated Press show vehicles engulfed in flames and army flares illuminating the sky above Deir al-Hatab. The words “Avenge Yehuda” were spray-painted onto a building.

A War Within a War

The attacks unfolded during Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan. They were not isolated. The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported simultaneous assaults on at least six communities overnight Friday into Saturday — including villages near Jenin, agricultural regions in Masafer Yatta, and the Jordan Valley. Homes burned. Palestinians were pepper-sprayed. At least five were wounded.

Israeli security forces detained five civilians and confiscated weapons late Sunday, the military said. A soldier was injured when Israeli civilians attacked security forces near the Itamar settlement. Israeli police said they were operating with “zero tolerance toward extremist violent individuals.”

But the arrests came after the damage was done. Yesh Din, an Israeli civil rights group, called the attacks “a night of pogroms” and accused security forces of failing to prepare adequately despite prior knowledge of planned violence.

Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Israel’s military chief, condemned settler violence last week as “morally and ethically unacceptable” — particularly during wartime, when the military should not have to “confront a threatening minority from within.” His words have not stopped the attacks.

The Numbers Since February

Settler violence has intensified since the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran on February 28, with attention shifting to that front. Six Palestinians have been killed by settlers since March 1, according to the United Nations. Since the start of the year, 25 Palestinians have been killed by settlers and soldiers combined.

Yair Golan, leader of Israel’s centre-left Democrats, accused the government of allowing the violence. “Jewish terrorism is spreading, exploiting the war, with the backing of extremist ministers,” he wrote on X.

Four Dead in Gaza

The same day settlers rampaged through the West Bank, four Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza.

Three died when a vehicle was hit in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Awda Hospital. The victims were local police officers. Ten others were wounded. A fourth Palestinian was killed in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood — identified as a leader of an armed group linked to Fatah.

The Israeli military said it was checking on the incidents.

These were the latest deaths in a ceasefire that has failed to stop the killing. Gaza health officials say more than 680 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since an October truce attempted to halt more than two years of war. Israel reports four soldiers killed in the same period.

The Iran war dominates headlines. In the West Bank and Gaza, the grinding reality continues regardless.

Sources