Under the protection of the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), Israeli settlers continue to carry out attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property across the West Bank, amid a lack of accountability and the prevailing climate of impunity. As a result, a child was killed and another person injured yesterday, Friday, in an attack carried out by dozens of settlers against Palestinian homes in the northeastern part of Sa’ir village, east of Hebron.
According to initial investigations by PCHR field researchers and an eyewitness account, at around 10:30 on Friday, 21 August 2026, around 100 settlers gathered in the Sa’ir Valley area, northeast of Sa’ir village, under the protection of a settlement security guard driving a 4×4 and proceeded towards the Irbei’ah area. The settlers attacked a stone-cutting workshop with stones and attempted to raid it before continuing towards the Hamroush area, where Palestinian homes are located. Upon arriving in the area, the settlers began throwing stones at Palestinian homes, while the settlement security guard and other settlers carrying rifles opened indiscriminate fire at Palestinians who came out of their homes in an attempt to prevent the settlers from entering. The homes were located approximately 100 meters or less from the road where the settlers had deployed.
During the gunfire, Samir ‘Issa al-Tarawi (71) was shot in the right side of his waist by a bullet fired by the settlement security guard. As the gunfire continued and Palestinians attempted to confront the attack, Karam Sanad al-Shalaldah (16) was also shot. The bullet entered the upper left side of his back and exited through the upper left side of his chest. People managed to reach the two injured and move them around 100 meters away from the scene of the attack, from where they were evacuated to Sa’ir Village Medical Center, located about 30 minutes from the scene. They were subsequently transferred by a Palestine Red Crescent Society ambulance to hospitals in Hebron. Al-Shalaldah had suffered severe bleeding and was unconscious when he was transferred. Upon his arrival at the Emergency Department of al-Mezan Specialized Hospital, the medical team attempted to resuscitate him. However, due to his critical injuries, he suffered a sharp drop in blood pressure followed by respiratory and cardiac arrest. Doctors pronounced him dead at approximately 12:30. His body was transferred to a government hospital for forensic procedures, while al-Tarawi underwent surgery at al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron.
During the attack, the settlers also set fire to empty warehouses owned by Ibrahim Mohammed al-Shalaldah and used for storing firewood.
This crime is part of the escalating attacks carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians and their property across the West Bank, under IOF’s direct protection. These attacks form part of a systematic and ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing, in which settlers serve as an advanced arm of the occupation to eliminate the Palestinian presence in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.
Since the beginning of the year, IOF and settlers killed 81 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 20 children and 2 women, noting that 17 of those victims were killed by settlers’ fire, including 3 children.
PCHR calls on the international community to take immediate and effective action to end crimes committed by Israeli settlers and the IOF in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), and to bring an end to Israel’s regime of apartheid and settler colonialism imposed on the Palestinian people.
PCHR recalls the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice in July 2024, which affirmed the illegality of Israel’s continued occupation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 and held that Israel is under an obligation to end its unlawful presence, including by dismantling its settlements and evacuating its settlers.
PCHR calls for the immediate provision of international protection to the Palestinian population, particularly in areas under settler attacks, especially communities at risk of forced displacement. PCHR calls for serious international action to ensure accountability for perpetrators of war crimes before international justice mechanisms, end the longstanding policy of impunity, provide international protection for Palestinian civilians, and halt all forms of political, military, and economic support to Israel that enable it to continue its unlawful policies and commit grave breaches of international law.
