Dozens of extremist settlers beat Palestinians; burn homes, cars in revenge attacks

Extremist settlers attacked Palestinians in some 20 locations across the West Bank on Saturday night, a security source told The Times of Israel, with assailants torching homes, vehicles and other property.

Footage from the villages of Jalud, Fandaqumiya, Silat ad-Dhahr and Qaryut showed buildings on fire, and residents could be heard rushing to try to evacuate those inside.

Eleven Palestinians were lightly wounded in the attacks, according to the Haaretz daily, which cited a security source.

Earlier on Saturday, Yehuda Sherman, an 18-year-old settler, was killed when a Palestinian-owned pickup truck hit the ATV he and his brother were traveling in close to the illegal settlement outpost where they lived.

The police and Israel Defense Forces were examining whether the incident was a deliberate attack, although several senior coalition politicians immediately denounced it as terrorism.

Graffiti at some sites of settler violence Saturday night indicated that at least some of the attacks were carried out in retaliation for Sherman’s death.

The IDF said on Sunday that the suspect in the incident had turned himself in during the course of Saturday night and was being questioned. The army added that the circumstances of the incident were being examined.

In Fandaqumiya, settlers used Molotov cocktails; near Ramallah, they threw stones; and in Sebastia, near Nablus, attackers threw an explosive device, setting two buildings and three cars ablaze, Haaretz reported.

No casualties were immediately reported from the fires, but the Palestinian Red Crescent said three people were injured in beatings by settlers in the village of Jalud, and six others were injured in beatings in villages in the Jenin area.

Footage from Jalud circulating online showed dozens of assailants streaming into the village.

תיעוד: עשרות מתנחלים נכנסו הלילה לכפר ג’אלוד באזור שכם, הציתו כלי רכב וריססו כתובות על בית pic.twitter.com/tXc8lueVTz

— הארץ חדשות (@haaretznewsvid) March 22, 2026

Near the settlement of Shiloh, settlers threw stones at an ambulance, and near Hebron, they set up roadblocks, according to the Red Crescent.

Some hours after reports emerged of the violence, the IDF said troops and Border Police officers were sent to respond to the incidents.

A statement from the IDF spokesperson said reports were received of “Israeli citizens who burned buildings and property, and disturbed the peace in the area.”

The statement said troops were working to restore order, and added that Israel’s security forces “condemn violence of any kind and will continue working to protect residents’ security and order in the area.”

There were, however, no reports of arrests, which are highly rare in instances of settler violence. Attacks by extremist settlers have been taking place on a near-daily basis in recent weeks.

Midday on Sunday, a West Bank District police spokesperson told The Times of Israel that “an investigation has been opened about the incidents,” but did not comment on whether any suspects had been arrested.

HORRIFIC night in the West Bank.

Israeli settlers are attacking more than nine Palestinian villages and cities now, including Bethlehem, setting cars and homes on fire and attempting to burn families alive. pic.twitter.com/blZwHOJaB5

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) March 21, 2026

On Sunday morning, Palestinian media outlets reported that three Palestinians were injured in beatings and stone-throwings in the preceding hours while traveling between Salfit and the village of Bruqin in the northern West Bank.

According to the reports, settlers attacked the Palestinians’ vehicle with stones and then beat them.

It was also reported that graffiti had been sprayed on a mosque in the village of Jalud, in the Nablus area of the northern West Bank.

The graffiti read “Revenge, Yehuda,” apparently referring to Sherman, who was killed Saturday in a collision with a Palestinian driving a pickup truck in the Jenin area.

On Sunday morning, Yehuda Sherman’s brother Daniel, who was also in the ATV and was injured in the incident, issued a statement from his hospital bed. According to Sherman’s account, it was a deliberate attack on him and his brother.

“We were doing an area patrol around the farm [outpost], I went down a steep asphalt descent, and I saw an Arab [-owned] white pickup truck, which identified me from below and waited for me on the side of the road,” said Sherman.

“The moment I passed him he chased after me, sped up in my direction, and when there was a sharp turn next to a cliff he just rammed me and sent me flying off the cliff. My brother and I fell off the cliff,” he continued.

Sherman also alleged that Palestinian residents of a nearby village arrived at the scene and threw stones at him and his brother, before the emergency services arrived.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Sunday posted a tribute to Sherman, asserting that he was “murdered in the defense of the land of Samaria,” a biblical term for the northern West Bank.

Ben Gvir, who oversees the police, did not appear to issue any public statement on the subsequent violence against Palestinians.

مستوطنون يخطون شعارات معادية على مسجد ومنزل في قرية جالود، جنوب شرق نابلس. pic.twitter.com/YrcF1O2frM

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) March 22, 2026

Several opposition figures condemned the settler violence, with Arab lawmaker Ayman Odeh of Hadash-Ta’al labeling the events a “pogrom.”

“Settlers carried out an expansive pogrom lasting more than six hours, harming more than 14 villages, attacking dozens of Palestinians, and not one of them was arrested,” he wrote on X.

“If the army wanted to stop settler terrorism, it would be able to do so within days,” he alleged. “What is happening across the West Bank is not an accident, it is a policy of terrorism and ethnic cleansing, with the backing of the government and the sponsorship of the army.”

Golan: Failure to stop ‘Jewish terrorism’ could spark intifada

Yair Golan, leader of the left-wing Democrats party, lamented what he labeled “Jewish terrorism” and “an abandonment of the security of Israel.”

“It is incumbent on the IDF chief of staff and the Shin Bet head to show leadership, and act with an iron fist against the rioters,” he posted, and warned that continued inaction could “drag the whole sate of Israel into a third intifada.”

Gilad Kariv, also of The Democrats, wrote on X that “the destruction was preceded by explicit calls and advance planning that drew no response from the IDF, the Shin Bet, or the police.”

דיווחים על שורה של תקיפות מתנחלים בכפרים בצפון השומרון – ג’אלוד וקריות בשכם, א-פונדוקיה וסילת א-זאהר בג’נין. הצתות (לפי תיעודים של כלי רכב), יידוי אבנים וכנראה גם מכות. לא ידוע על נפגעים בהצתות *כרגע*, לפי הסהר האדום 3 נפצעו ממכות בג’אלוד ועוד 6 באזור ג’נין. הרקע: אתמול נהרג… pic.twitter.com/XupNHaciTc

— Nurit Yohanan (@nurityohanan) March 22, 2026

On Saturday, diplomats from 13 European countries and Canada issued a joint statement condemning “increasing settler terror and violence by the Israeli security forces inflicted upon Palestinian communities.” The statement blamed “settler militias,” and called on Israeli authorities to “prevent and prosecute the lethal violence, raids and attacks.”

Last week, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir also criticized the increase in settler attacks in the West Bank, calling it “morally and ethically unacceptable.”

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett — considered the most credible challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the premiership this year, and himself a longtime supporter of West Bank settlements —  also denounced “nationalist violence” last week and urged other members of the settler movement to do likewise.

Charlie Summers and Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.