By Middle East Correspondent
London, (The Muslim News): The UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory warned Friday of escalating violence by Israeli occupiers in the West Bank who killed four Palestinians and called for an international protective presence for Palestinian civilians.
“ALARM!! Violent attacks reported in all West Bank particularly northern area and Nablus!” Francesca Albanese wrote on the US social media company X. She alleged that “packs of settlers – terrorists in full force backed by Israeli soldiers – are calling for ‘blood,’ literally.” Albanese urged states to “deploy a protective presence” to protect Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank. She also shared what she described as a screenshot circulating on occupiers’ social media platforms. The image included Hebrew-language text alongside an English translation reading: “We want revenge. Not new settlements, not promises for more housing units. We want to see blood. There is no solace without vengeance.”
Her warning came hours after rights organizations, including Israeli groups, called on the international community to intervene urgently to stop attacks by Israeli settlers and the army against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The appeals followed an attack by Israeli occupiers, backed by Israeli forces, on the town of Tell near Nablus that left four Palestinians dead, along with an Israeli settler and a soldier, according to Palestinian and Israeli authorities.
Earlier Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered what they described as a “wide-scale military operation” in Palestinian villages across the occupied West Bank following a shooting attack near the illegal Havat Gilad settlement. In a joint statement, Netanyahu and Katz also said the army had been instructed to demolish the home of a Palestinian accused of carrying out a shooting attack against occupiers near the Palestinian town of Tell in the northern West Bank. The measures followed a security incident near the illegal Havat Gilad settlement, close to Nablus, that killed two Israeli soldiers and injured three others, according to an Israeli army statement. Israel’s Channel 13 reported that Palestinians had seized the weapon of a settlement security officer and opened fire on settlers.
A large Israeli military force raided the city of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, according to an Anadolu correspondent. Following the Israeli announcement of a wide-scale military operation, illegal Israeli settlers attacked the nearby Palestinian villages of Sarra and Urif in the Nablus governorate, setting fire to Palestinian homes and other property, while residents confronted them by throwing stones. The correspondent said occupiers set fire to a Palestinian home in Sarra and torched the outskirts of the village. Occupiers also set fire to another Palestinian home in the town of Urif and vandalized residents’ property.
Earlier Friday, four Palestinians were killed and four others injured, including three critically, during an attack by Israeli forces and occupiers on Tell, southwest of Nablus, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Friday expressed “deep alarm” over reports of Israeli forces storming a hospital in Nablus in the occupied West Bank amid clashes that killed four Palestinians. “We are deeply alarmed by reports coming out of Nablus today, including that of Israeli forces storming Nablus Specialised Hospital, alongside clashes elsewhere in the governorate that have killed four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers,” Filipe Ribiero, the MSF head of mission in Palestine, said in a statement. He said the acts of violence in the occupied West Bank targeting Palestinians are not “isolated” incidents. “They sit within a wider pattern of Israeli raids, state-sponsored settler violence, the disruption of essential services, and mounting pressure on civilians and healthcare,” said Ribiero. Stressing that the protection of healthcare facilities must be respected, he said healthcare facilities must remain accessible to people in need. “It is unacceptable for hospitals, ambulances, staff, and patients to be targeted by violence anywhere in Palestine,” he added.
The Palestinian presidency on Friday condemned what it described as “terrorism” by Israeli occupiers and military forces across the occupied West Bank, holding the Israeli government fully responsible and warning that the continued violence could push the territory toward an “explosion.” In a statement carried by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, the presidency condemned the killing of four Palestinians by Israeli occupiers on the outskirts of the town of Tell, southwest of Nablus, as well as subsequent attacks on Palestinian civilians and their property in the towns and villages of Urif, Sarra, Imatin, Far’ata, Umriha and Masafer Yatta. The statement also condemned an Israeli military raid on Nablus Specialized Hospital, saying medical staff and civilians were intimidated and assaulted and that two Palestinians were abducted during the operation.
The presidency said the Israeli government bears full responsibility for the “terrorism” committed by Israeli occupiers against unarmed Palestinians, noting that 87 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year, including 21 by gunfire from settlers. It accused the Israeli government of providing financial and political support to “settler gangs” to escalate attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as part of what it described as a plan of forced displacement while continuing military operations in the Gaza Strip despite the announcement of a ceasefire. The presidency warned that the continuation of what it described as daily crimes and violations against Palestinians was pushing the occupied West Bank toward an “explosion.”
It also condemned decisions announced Friday by Netanyahu and Katz following the incident in Tell, including accelerating the establishment and legalization of settlement outposts, reinforcing military deployments across the occupied West Bank, intensifying raids and imposing a siege on Nablus and surrounding areas. The presidency called on the US administration to intervene and pressure Israel to halt what it described as the escalation and “terrorism” committed by Israeli occupiers, warning that the continuation of the current situation could drag the entire region into dangerous consequences. It also urged the international community to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities by ending the escalation, providing protection for the Palestinian people and holding Israel accountable for what it described as crimes against Palestinians.
Türkiye on Friday condemned what it described as the escalating illegal settler terror in the occupied Palestinian territories following the killing of four Palestinians. “We strongly condemn the escalating illegal settler terror in the occupied Palestinian territories,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The ministry said the killing of four Palestinians on Friday by occupier terrorists “encouraged by the Netanyahu government” was “a result of Israel’s ongoing genocide policy.”
Violence in the occupied West Bank has intensified since Israel launched its military offensive on the Gaza Strip in October 2023. According to official Palestinian figures, at least 1,182 Palestinians have been killed, thousands injured, and nearly 24,000 arrested in Israeli military raids and occupier attacks during that period.
US continues bombing Iranian cities
Friday’s violence in the West Bank came as the region faced widening instability on another front, with tensions in the Persian Gulf surging since US President Donald Trump announced on July 8 that the ceasefire outlined in the Islamabad MoU was no longer in effect. Since then, the US and Iran have exchanged strikes, with Washington targeting sites inside Iran, while Tehran says it has attacked US military facilities and equipment across several countries in the region.
Bahrain and Kuwait quietly deployed fighter jets to strike targets within Iran earlier this month, marking their first known direct military response against Tehran, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing “people familiar with the matter.” The strikes hit facilities used to store drones and missiles, along with other military installations, according to the report. The United Arab Emirates, which had previously launched several attacks on Iran during the early stages of the conflict, reportedly contributed intelligence on potential targets and provided defensive air support, reflecting growing coordination among Arab states in countering Iran, the report said. For several weeks, Iran has concentrated its retaliatory attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait, both home to US military bases. Although the two Gulf nations maintain relatively modest air forces equipped with American and European-made fighter jets, they were unwilling to allow Tehran to continue striking them without responding, the report said.
An Iranian military commander said Friday that the killing of every Iranian citizen would be met with the killing of a US servicemember, describing it as a formally declared battlefield policy, according to state broadcaster IRIB. Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the country’s top wartime operational military command, said Tehran now regarded the measure as a “definitive and officially communicated equation” governing the battlefield. “We consider the rule, whose operational nature we had previously demonstrated to the enemy, to be a definitive and officially communicated equation on the battlefield from this moment onward,” Abdollahi said. “For every Iranian citizen who is martyred, one American servicemember will be sent to hell,” he added. Abdollahi also warned US forces that Iran had prepared “free and direct tickets to hell” for them.
Iran will not accept a temporary ceasefire and will continue its current course until its demands regarding the Strait of Hormuz are met, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) foreign ministers’ meeting in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, Araghchi said Iran would not discuss a temporary truce “unless our demands regarding the Strait of Hormuz are fulfilled,” according to Iranian media. He said consultations with Russia and China were ongoing, adding that he held detailed talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the meeting. Araghchi also said Pakistan had conveyed proposals as a mediator but argued that Tehran’s dispute with Washington was “not about mediation but about the US approach.” He reiterated that Iran would not yield to “pressure, threats or bullying” and would continue pursuing what he described as the country’s principles, including protecting the Iranian people and Iran’s interests in the Strait of Hormuz. “As long as the legitimate goals and demands of the Iranian people are not achieved, it is natural that we will continue our course,” he said. He also said many SCO foreign ministers had praised Iran’s response to the US and Israel, arguing that Tehran had demonstrated it was possible to stand up to major powers.
Iran’s state broadcaster reported Friday that a US missile strike on an LPG tanker approaching the Strait of Hormuz killed two crew members after the vessel was allegedly mistaken for carrying Iranian gas. Citing an informed source, IRIB said the US military fired two missiles at the tanker Friday afternoon as it was approaching the region from the Sea of Oman. According to the report, the vessel was targeted because US forces believed it was transporting Iranian gas. The report said two crew members were killed and the vessel’s engine room was damaged, leaving the tanker disabled. The US military has not commented on the claims. Earlier Friday, the Indian Embassy in Tehran said the Mozambique-flagged LPG tanker Meda, carrying 28 Indian crew members, came under attack in Iranian territorial waters in the Strait of Hormuz but that all Indian nationals aboard were safe. It was not immediately clear whether the tanker mentioned by IRIB was the same vessel referred to by the Indian Embassy.
The exchanges have disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, raising renewed concerns over global energy supplies.
Saudi Arabia bombs Hodeidah in Yemen
In a further sign of widening regional volatility, Yemen’s Houthi group on Friday accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out airstrikes in the western province of Hodeidah amid rising tensions over Red Sea shipping. The group’s Al-Masirah television channel said the strikes targeted Kamaran Island and facilities belonging to the Telecommunications Corporation in Hodeidah province. It did not report any casualties or damage. Earlier, the channel said only that airstrikes had struck Hodeidah province. The Houthi-affiliated September 26 news website, citing unidentified local sources, also reported multiple airstrikes and blamed Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities had not commented on the reported strikes at the time of publication, and Anadolu could not independently verify either the attacks or who carried them out. The reported strikes come as tensions between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis have escalated after the group threatened to ban Saudi-linked shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait. On July 20, the Arab coalition’s Joint Forces Command said it would take measures to protect commercial vessels and respond to threats in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, accusing the Houthis of escalating tensions against Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
[Photo: Relatives mourn during the funeral of 53 year-old Palestinian Awda Abulrahim Farahneh and 26 year-old Ahmed Adil Abu Muhu, who were killed in an Israeli raid at the village of Deir Jarir, Ramallah, West Bank, Palestine on July 20, 2026. Their bodies are taken from the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah and laid to rest during a funeral procession attended by family members and residents. Photojournalist: Issam Rimawi/AA]
