Palestinian dies of heart attack during clash with settlers, as West Bank attacks persist

60-year-old guard dies at recreational park amid confrontation; two cars burned near Hebron, villagers attacked near Nablus

Palestinian media reported a series of attacks in the West Bank on Thursday attributed to extremist settlers, with one incident turning deadly when a man suffered a fatal heart attack.

Outlets reported four assaults in the central and southern West Bank.

In the central Salfit area of the West Bank, Iyad Arar, 60, from the village of Qarawat Bani Zeid, died of a heart attack as Jewish extremists raided the Sofia Park recreation center where he worked as a guard, outlets reported.

Footage circulated on social media appeared to show him attempting to speak with several settlers who arrived at the site. One of the men was then seen climbing a wall to enter the park’s parking lot. Arar tried to chase after the settler, but suddenly collapsed in front of the wall.

He was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

Social media users who circulated footage of the incident claimed that settlers had “executed” Arar. However, Wafa, the official Palestinian Authority news agency, cited medical sources as saying Arar died of a heart attack.

Meanwhile, settler vandals reportedly set a vehicle ablaze near the village of Khirbet Abu Falah, also in the central West Bank.

Wafa reported that several Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli security forces there.

In another incident, residents of the village of Beit Ummar, northwest of Nablus, told Wafa that settlers had attacked homes in the village, assaulted residents, and sprayed some with pepper spray.

Earlier, outlets reported that settlers had set fire overnight to two vehicles in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. No injuries were reported.

The settlers also sprayed graffiti reading “Regards to Bluth,” apparently referring to IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth.

Bluth on Wednesday sent a letter to local council heads in the West Bank in which he condemned nationalist crimes against Palestinians, writing that “the phenomenon does not occur in a vacuum — public leadership is required to make its voice clearly heard against it.”

“What is required is public leadership that fulfills its role and speaks clearly,” Bluth wrote, while warning that continued violence could spark “a broader escalation along the entire front, harming the IDF’s capabilities and diverting forces and resources from Israel’s chief effort [against Iran].”

The Yesh Din organization, which works to safeguard Palestinian rights in the West Bank, said that in the first 17 days since the start of the war with Iran, 170 separate incidents of settler violence against Palestinians were reported in the West Bank — an average of 10 per day.

They included assaults, shootings, property damage, and threats.

The same day that Bluth sent his letter, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir issued sharp condemnation of settler violence, calling attacks against Palestinian civilians and soldiers in the West Bank “morally and ethically unacceptable” and a major strategic impediment.

The IDF has faced mounting criticism for often standing by while attacks unfold, has been accused of backing up the attackers when clashes break out, and of failing to go after those responsible. The Israel Police has also been accused of doing little to counter the rising tide of violence.

Some critics claim that the overwhelming impunity enjoyed by attackers demonstrates that the violence is sanctioned, if not encouraged, by the government.

Six Palestinian civilians have been shot dead by settlers since the beginning of March, while other violent attacks by such radical elements against Palestinians and civil rights activists seeking to protect them have become a daily occurrence in the West Bank.