Israel reports killing 4,000 October 7 attackers; West Bank settler violence kills Palestinian farmer

On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that the military had killed 4,000 of roughly 6,000 militants involved in the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, leaving approximately 2,000 still unaccounted for. The figures were presented by Major General Shlomi Binder, head of the IDF's Military Intelligence Directorate, during a Security Cabinet meeting. According to reports, Binder told ministers that the military would locate and eliminate everyone who participated in the attack. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz had issued orders to security agencies to eliminate all those involved, describing this as "the command of the murdered and the fallen."

In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian authorities reported that a Palestinian man was killed and 16 others wounded on Wednesday when Israeli settlers attacked olive harvesters near the village of Burqa, northwest of Nablus. The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the deceased as 44-year-old Ali Hassan Yasser al-Bazzari. The Palestine Red Crescent Society indicated that its teams treated five wounded individuals, including two with gunshot wounds. The organization also reported that Israeli forces assaulted ambulance crews attempting to reach the injured, briefly detaining three paramedics and a volunteer. This incident occurred within a broader pattern of increasing settler violence against Palestinians during the olive harvest season.