Israeli forces have shot and killed a Palestinian man near the northern West Bank city of Jenin after the Israeli military said he attempted to carry out a vehicular attack near the settlement of Ganim.
The incident occurred on Sunday, September 20, amid heightened tensions across the occupied West Bank and a wider increase in Israeli military operations and settler-related violence.
According to an Israeli army spokesperson, troops opened fire on the Palestinian man near Ganim, east of Jenin. The military said there were no Israeli casualties in the incident. The identity of the Palestinian man was not immediately released.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its medical teams were prevented by Israeli forces from reaching the victim, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA as reported by Al Jazeera.
The circumstances surrounding the incident could not be independently established, and the Israeli military’s account that the man attempted a vehicular attack was not accompanied by further publicly available details about the alleged attack.
The killing came on the same day as a separate deadly shooting involving an Israeli settler in the central occupied West Bank.
Israeli police said a 30-year-old Israeli man was fatally shot near the Neve Tzuf settlement, north of Ramallah. The military said the suspected attacker opened fire from a vehicle before fleeing on foot.
Security forces subsequently located the suspect at a hospital, where he had reportedly sought treatment for injuries sustained while fleeing, and detained him, according to Israeli authorities.
Following the shooting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered increased military and security activity in the West Bank. Israeli forces also closed entry and exit points around Ramallah and al-Bireh, according to WAFA.
Israel’s National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, meanwhile called for the death penalty for the suspect detained in connection with the shooting of the Israeli settler.
Ben-Gvir said the case could become the first to qualify for the death penalty under legislation adopted by Israel’s parliament earlier this year. The law permits military courts to impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis.
The latest incidents come amid heightened security operations across the occupied West Bank.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has documented more than 1,330 settler-related attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank between January and late July 2026, according to Al Jazeera. The reported figure represented an average of about six attacks per day and was described as the fastest pace recorded in roughly two decades.
The escalation has also involved military raids, arrests and restrictions on Palestinian movement.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli troops carried out a major operation in the northern West Bank town of Al-Mughayyir, where Palestinian officials said at least 28 people were detained. The Israeli military has described its operations in the territory as security measures aimed at preventing attacks.
The violence has continued despite international calls for restraint and efforts to address the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The West Bank, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, remains at the centre of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Israeli settlements have expanded across the territory, while Palestinians seek the West Bank, alongside Gaza and East Jerusalem, as part of a future independent state.
The latest killings therefore add to an increasingly tense security environment in the territory, where Palestinian armed attacks, Israeli military operations and settler violence have continued to fuel a cycle of confrontation.
With tensions remaining high, Sunday’s incidents are likely to intensify concerns over further escalation in the West Bank, particularly as Israeli authorities increase security measures and Palestinian communities face continued military restrictions and violence.
