The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns in the strongest terms the killing of three Palestinian civilians and the injury of others by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), while the latter were protecting Israeli settler gangs who stormed Kafr Malik village, east of Ramallah, the settlers carried out systematic attacks, including shooting and arson of civilian property.

This assault is part of an escalating pattern of violent crimes committed by armed Israeli settler gangs, with full support and complicity of the IOF, and under the direct protection and sponsorship of Israel’s top military and political echelons. PCHR has recently documented an alarming surge in these attacks, which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity under international humanitarian law.

Details of the crime:

At approximately 19:30 on Wednesday, 25 June 2025, several Tundra vehicles carrying Israeli settlers arrived in the southern area of Kafr Malik village, east of Ramallah, via Bypass Road 449, which connects the “Alon” settlement road with the “Tel al-‘Asur” military camp. The settlers stepped out of the vehicles and immediately launched attacks on civilians’ property, setting fire to four vehicles and two homes using flammable materials.

This assault occurred just minutes after residents of the village had left the mourning tent of ‘Ammar Mo’taz Mustafa Hamayel (14), who was killed by the IOF’s fire in the same area on 23 June 2025. As soon as the villagers gathered in an attempt to confront the settlers’ attack and defend their property, the latter began indiscriminately firing live bullets. About five minutes later, the IOF, accompanied by private border guard patrols, arrived at the incident scene in military vehicles and began directly opening fire at Palestinian civilians, without taking any action to deter the settlers’ assaults.

According to several testimonies obtained by PCHR’s staff, Israeli soldiers climbed onto the rooftops of several houses, including those that settlers had attempted to burn, and opened fire on Palestinian civilians. As a result, 10 civilians were injured, most sustaining critical wounds to the head and chest. Due to ambulances being initially unable to access the incident scene, the injured were transported by private vehicles to the center of Kafr Malik village, where three ambulances then transferred them to hospitals in Ramallah.

Later, medical sources announced the death of three of the injured: Lutfi Sabri Ba’yrat (20), who sustained a gunshot injury to the chest; Murshid Nawaf Hamayel (36), who sustained a gunshot injury to the head; and Mohammad Qahir al-Naji (20), who sustained a gunshot injury to the chest.

This attack was preceded by dozens of violent acts committed by settlers, under the IOF’s protection, in recent days. The most serious of which was on 19 June when an Israeli settler killed an elderly man, while the IOF injured his brother in northern Surif village, northwest of Hebron.

Recent developments in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, are part of a systematic policy pursued by the IOF and Israeli settlers to impose a new reality on the ground through settler terrorism. This constitutes a blatant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949), which prohibits the transfer of the occupying power’s civilian population into occupied territories (Article 49), forbids collective punishment, and obliges the occupying power to protect the civilian population.

The complicity of the IOF and their intervention in favor of the settlers, along with opening fire on innocent civilians who are defending themselves and trying to protect their children, women, and property, confirm that these militias, armed by explicit support and directives from Israeli government ministers, operate as unofficial arms of the state and enjoy legal and political protection. This makes these crimes directly the responsibility of Israel.

PCHR recalls the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling issued in July 2024, which affirmed that the continued Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, including the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, is unlawful. The ruling obligated Israel to immediately end its illegal presence and halt all settlement activities, including the evacuation of settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt).

In light of this serious escalation of the IOF and settlers’ crimes, PCHR calls on the international community to take immediate and effective action to stop these crimes and to urgently provide international protection for Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

PCHR also calls for serious action to hold perpetrators of war crimes accountable before international justice and to end the policy of impunity. PCHR affirms that the continued silence of the international community constitutes indirect complicity, fosters a culture of impunity, and encourages the commission of further crimes against the Palestinian people.