Israeli fire wounds three in Gaza amid settler violence in West Bank
Shafaq News- Gaza/ West Bank
Three Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire east of Gaza City on Saturday, according to Palestinian media, as the United Nations condemned rising settler violence in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian outlets also reported artillery shelling targeting northern areas of the Gaza Strip. Gaza’s Health Ministry recorded one new fatality and 10 injuries in hospitals across the enclave over the past 48 hours. Since a ceasefire took effect on October 11, the ministry has documented 612 deaths and 1,640 injuries, bringing the cumulative toll since the outbreak of hostilities on October 7, 2023, to 72,070 deaths and 171,738 injuries.
In the West Bank, Israeli forces confiscated several vehicles during a raid on the town of Anata, northeast of Jerusalem, fired tear gas toward homes during an incursion into al-Mughayyir in the Ramallah district, and arrested two brothers in Masafer Yatta, south of al-Khalil. Meanwhile, settlers set fire to residential and agricultural structures belonging to Palestinians between the towns of Rummon and Deir Dibwan, east of Ramallah.
#شاهد| الاحتلال يعتقل الشقيقين محمود و أحمد عبدالمحسن رشيد من خربةِ هريبة النبي بمسافر يطا جنوب الخليل. pic.twitter.com/mq6M4t5zwI
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) February 21, 2026
UN Secretary-General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric denounced the killing of 19-year-old dual Palestinian-American Nasrallah Abu Siam, who was shot and beaten in an alleged settler attack in the village of Mukhmas, urging Israel to take “concrete steps to halt and prevent all acts of violence by Israeli settlers against the Palestinian population,” in line with its obligations as the occupying power.
Dujarric further noted that since January 2023, and as of 16 February, around 880 Palestinian families —more than 4,700 people— have been displaced across the West Bank due to settler attacks and access restrictions.
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor described the resumption of land registration in the area, after nearly six decades during which Palestinians were largely prevented from formally registering property, as occurring at a time when many lack ownership documents. This, it warned, could lead to vast areas being reclassified as “state land” and annexed, in what he termed a grave violation of international law.
🧵For nearly 60 years, the Israeli occupation has prevented Palestinians from registering their land in the West Bank. Today, land registration is being resumed at a time when most of them do not possess ownership documents, potentially paving the way for vast areas to be… pic.twitter.com/jXdXMgc2Gk
— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) February 20, 2026
Israeli operations in the West Bank since October 2023 have killed at least 1,110 Palestinians, including more than 200 children, data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics show. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society estimates that more than 21,000 Palestinians have been detained, many under administrative detention without charge.
