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Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2026-01-28 at 04:06
Published 1 month ago
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HEADLINES
Deadly West Bank clashes in Masafer Yatta
West Bank confrontations surge prosecutions rare
US backs Israel and calls restraint
The time is now 11:00 PM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.
This is the 11:00 PM update from the region’s latest developments.
Palestinian medical and security authorities report a day of near-daily violence in the southern West Bank as settler attacks targeted Palestinian communities around Masafer Yatta. Reports indicate multiple Palestinians were wounded in settler assaults across several villages, while others were injured in clashes with Israeli forces in the area. Among those harmed, a 20-year-old man who, according to the Palestinian health ministry, was shot and later died of his wounds after clashes reported in Dahariya. Earlier in the day, a 13-year-old boy was evacuated to a hospital from the central West Bank’s Qalandiya refugee camp after being struck in the foot by gunfire, according to the Red Crescent.
In the Masafer Yatta cluster, medics faced hostile conditions as they tried to reach injured residents. Palestinian health authorities say medics were stoned by settlers attempting to hinder aid at Khirbet al-Fakhit, where a young man with a head wound and a teenage girl with a broken arm were treated and hospitalized. Separately, in the nearby village of Khirbet al-Halawa, the Red Crescent said several people were hurt in a settler attack and that assailants stole 150 head of livestock, according to WAFA, the official PA news agency. Residents reported further property damage, including smashed car windows, burned firewood stored for heating, and a home sprayed by pepper spray and stones. Footage circulated on social media showing settlers loading vehicles with wood into large fires amid reports of further burnings. The Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment on these incidents.
Across the line near Dahariya, clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians continued, with two Palestinians reported wounded by gunfire in the Red Crescent’s account. One of those wounded, a 20-year-old man, was later reported dead by Palestinian officials. In Beit Fajjar, several vehicles were firebombed, and a home was defaced with the Hebrew phrase “The Land of Judah Awakens.” The IDF has not issued public comments on the full set of events.
In the northern West Bank, settlers reportedly attempted an attack on the Palestinian village of Duweir near Tulkarem but were repelled by locals, according to Arabic-language footage and reporting. Separate social media postings and local reporting noted widespread damage to Palestinian property in other areas connected to settler activity, including a tally of nearly 500 Palestinian-owned olive trees damaged near Susiya and, further northeast near Nablus, reports of uprooted trees and a confrontation involving left-wing Israeli activists filming a settler who dumped a truckload of spoiled dates in front of a Palestinian home in the community of Fasa’il. The IDF has described the man as an active reservist and noted that his actions were unacceptable, while suggesting he had been acting under a belief that he was grazing livestock on land he claimed to have rights to—an explanation that Haaretz reported as contested.
Observers note that settler violence in the West Bank occurs with troubling frequency and that prosecutions of assailants are rare, and convictions even rarer. Critics accuse the current Israeli government, viewed by many as the most hardline in recent memory, of not doing enough to deter or punish attacks. Independent security data released earlier this month show a sharp rise in confrontations, with total attacks by extremists against Palestinians and Israeli security forces in the West Bank up 27 percent in 2025 from the year before. In the subset classified as “nationalistic crime” by I
Deadly West Bank clashes in Masafer Yatta
West Bank confrontations surge prosecutions rare
US backs Israel and calls restraint
The time is now 11:00 PM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.
This is the 11:00 PM update from the region’s latest developments.
Palestinian medical and security authorities report a day of near-daily violence in the southern West Bank as settler attacks targeted Palestinian communities around Masafer Yatta. Reports indicate multiple Palestinians were wounded in settler assaults across several villages, while others were injured in clashes with Israeli forces in the area. Among those harmed, a 20-year-old man who, according to the Palestinian health ministry, was shot and later died of his wounds after clashes reported in Dahariya. Earlier in the day, a 13-year-old boy was evacuated to a hospital from the central West Bank’s Qalandiya refugee camp after being struck in the foot by gunfire, according to the Red Crescent.
In the Masafer Yatta cluster, medics faced hostile conditions as they tried to reach injured residents. Palestinian health authorities say medics were stoned by settlers attempting to hinder aid at Khirbet al-Fakhit, where a young man with a head wound and a teenage girl with a broken arm were treated and hospitalized. Separately, in the nearby village of Khirbet al-Halawa, the Red Crescent said several people were hurt in a settler attack and that assailants stole 150 head of livestock, according to WAFA, the official PA news agency. Residents reported further property damage, including smashed car windows, burned firewood stored for heating, and a home sprayed by pepper spray and stones. Footage circulated on social media showing settlers loading vehicles with wood into large fires amid reports of further burnings. The Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment on these incidents.
Across the line near Dahariya, clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians continued, with two Palestinians reported wounded by gunfire in the Red Crescent’s account. One of those wounded, a 20-year-old man, was later reported dead by Palestinian officials. In Beit Fajjar, several vehicles were firebombed, and a home was defaced with the Hebrew phrase “The Land of Judah Awakens.” The IDF has not issued public comments on the full set of events.
In the northern West Bank, settlers reportedly attempted an attack on the Palestinian village of Duweir near Tulkarem but were repelled by locals, according to Arabic-language footage and reporting. Separate social media postings and local reporting noted widespread damage to Palestinian property in other areas connected to settler activity, including a tally of nearly 500 Palestinian-owned olive trees damaged near Susiya and, further northeast near Nablus, reports of uprooted trees and a confrontation involving left-wing Israeli activists filming a settler who dumped a truckload of spoiled dates in front of a Palestinian home in the community of Fasa’il. The IDF has described the man as an active reservist and noted that his actions were unacceptable, while suggesting he had been acting under a belief that he was grazing livestock on land he claimed to have rights to—an explanation that Haaretz reported as contested.
Observers note that settler violence in the West Bank occurs with troubling frequency and that prosecutions of assailants are rare, and convictions even rarer. Critics accuse the current Israeli government, viewed by many as the most hardline in recent memory, of not doing enough to deter or punish attacks. Independent security data released earlier this month show a sharp rise in confrontations, with total attacks by extremists against Palestinians and Israeli security forces in the West Bank up 27 percent in 2025 from the year before. In the subset classified as “nationalistic crime” by I