How the Israeli Narrative Framed the Tell Attack Around the Rifle Seizure

The town of Tell, southwest of Nablus, witnessed an attack on Friday, July 24, carried out by dozens of settlers, followed by gunfire involving settlers and Israeli forces. The attack resulted in the deaths of four Palestinians and injuries to four others, while two Israeli soldiers were killed and two others were wounded.

Numan Saleh, the former head of the Tell village council, said residents initially received reports that settlers were attacking homes in the eastern part of the town. Some residents then headed to the area before being informed that the attackers had withdrawn.

After receiving reports that the settlers had moved to the western part of the town, residents went there, where Israeli forces, according to Saleh’s account, opened fire directly at them, resulting in several injuries, including serious ones.

Saleh said physical confrontations initially broke out between residents and settlers before Israeli forces intervened and opened fire at Palestinians. Other witnesses said settlers reached the area near the mosque and fired at residents who attempted to prevent them from advancing further into the town.

Issam al-Saifi, secretary of the Fatah movement in Tell, provided further details about the sequence of events, saying that around 25 to 30 settlers attacked two homes in the eastern part of the town and attempted to break into them before residents confronted them and forced them to withdraw.

He said the settlers opened fire before leaving, then returned about half an hour later and attacked the western part of the town, leading to physical clashes before settlers and Israeli forces opened fire at residents.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the attack by settlers and Israeli forces in the town killed four Palestinians from the same family and wounded four others, including three who were critically injured. Two Israeli soldiers were also killed and two others were wounded during the confrontation.

Footage Shows the Timeline and Location of the Tell Confrontation

An analysis of footage shared by social media accounts and media outlets shows different stages of the settler attack on Tell and the subsequent confrontation and gunfire.

The footage shows armed settlers alongside Israeli forces during a confrontation with a group of residents. One video also shows an Israeli man wearing civilian clothing assaulting a Palestinian, while other footage captures Israeli forces opening fire at Palestinians at the scene.

The footage timeline shows that Palestinian Farouk Adnan Ali Ramadan was unarmed before the physical confrontation began. It also shows an armed settler assaulting him with a rifle before pointing the weapon at Farouk and other Palestinians present at the scene.

During the physical confrontation, Farouk seized the rifle from the settler and fired it before Israeli forces shot and killed him.

Misbar’s team matched the circulated footage by comparing the individuals’ clothing, movements, locations, and fixed features at the scene. The analysis confirmed that the videos show the same confrontation from different angles.

The comparison also included footage showing the moment the rifle was seized, confirming that it was part of the same sequence of events.

To determine the location of the footage, Misbar’s team analyzed visible landmarks, including the wall, the mosque’s two domes, and the arrangement of buildings and trees, then compared them with satellite imagery and landmarks available on Google Maps.

The comparison showed that the footage of the attack and confrontation was recorded on the southern outskirts of Tell, near the mosque, at the following coordinates: 32.193691112269505, 35.20989257557759.

How the Israeli Narrative Presented the Tell Attack Without Full Context

The Israeli army, official accounts and Israeli media outlets initially described the incident as a “terrorist attack near the Havat Gilad settlement.”

The initial Israeli narrative claimed that a group of Israeli “hikers” was attacked by Palestinians near Tell before one of the Palestinians seized a security official’s rifle and opened fire.

The Israeli narrative omitted the beginning and sequence of events, including that settlers entered Tell and attacked homes there before moving to the outskirts of the town, where the confrontation broke out.

Israeli media coverage also linked the incident geographically to the Havat Gilad outpost, describing it as an attack “near” the settlement.

Although the security official whose weapon was taken is part of the outpost’s security team, this does not establish the location of the confrontation.

A measurement conducted by Misbar’s team showed that the direct distance between the location of the filmed confrontation and the nearest point of the outpost is 2.58 kilometers. The site is located east of the outpost, within Tell’s territory and near the mosque, rather than inside Havat Gilad, at its entrance, or in its immediate vicinity.

Israeli official accounts used footage of the confrontation after removing it from its broader context. The Israeli army’s account published the video and still images taken from it, describing Farouk Adnan Ali Ramadan as a “terrorist” and claiming that the footage showed an assault and an attempt to cause unrest, without showing the events that preceded the weapon seizure.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry’s account also described Farouk as a “Palestinian terrorist,” accused him of killing two Israelis, and linked the incident to broader claims that blame the Palestinian Authority for “producing terrorism.”

The Israeli official accounts therefore presented the footage as documenting an independent Palestinian attack, rather than part of a confrontation that began after settlers entered the town and assaulted residents.

Despite continued promotion of the “terrorist attack” narrative by the Israeli army and Israeli accounts, the army’s preliminary investigation found that the group included dozens of Israelis, including children, and entered Areas A and B without the required coordination before reaching the southern outskirts of Tell near the mosque. Israeli military orders prohibit Israelis from entering Area A, and the visit also required prior coordination with the army.

The investigation also said settlers fired shots during the confrontation, claiming they were fired into the air. It added that a security official and a member of the Havat Gilad outpost’s security team arrived, along with an Israeli army company commander and platoon commander, before Farouk seized the rifle from the security official and opened fire.

West Bank’s Tell Under Siege Amid Calls for Displacement and Settlement Expansion

Following the latest settler attack on Tell, Israeli forces imposed a military cordon around the town, closed checkpoints and roads leading to Nablus, and deployed reinforcements to the area. They also canceled soldiers’ leave in the West Bank and announced preparations for a large-scale military operation.

Later, Israeli forces raided Nablus Specialized Hospital and assaulted emergency department staff before arresting two brothers, one of whom was receiving treatment for injuries sustained during the confrontation. The army said it arrested two Palestinians over their alleged involvement in the incident.

Following a security meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz announced a series of measures, including the demolition of Palestinian Farouk Adnan Ali Ramadan’s home, military operations and weapons seizures in villages they described as “terrorist hubs,” and the revocation of work permits for their residents.

The measures also included reinforcing Israeli forces, establishing additional checkpoints across the West Bank, and expediting the legalization of existing settlement outposts and the establishment of new ones.

Israeli rhetoric escalated into public calls for displacement and destruction. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the removal of residents from Palestinian villages surrounding Tell and the establishment of settlements in their place. He specifically named Tell, Iraq Burin and Beit Furik, calling for the evacuation of residents and the removal of what he described as “terror infrastructure.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also called for Palestinian villages to be treated the same way Israeli forces treated Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip, including demolishing the homes of those he described as perpetrators and their supporters.

At the same time, settler attacks spread to five Palestinian villages around Nablus. In Far’ata, east of Qalqilya, armed settlers opened fire and set fire to two homes, a commercial facility and agricultural land, injuring residents. Reports also documented the burning of vehicles and trees during other attacks near Qalqilya.

The latest attack followed a pattern of repeated assaults on Tell. Just six days earlier, settlers set fire to an occupied home on the southern outskirts of the town, completely destroying it. On Feb. 23, settlers also set fire to and vandalized the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Mosque in Tell.

The attacks in Tell and their aftermath come amid an unprecedented escalation in settler violence in the West Bank. As of June 11, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) had documented more than 1,000 settler attacks that resulted in injuries or property damage, affecting more than 230 Palestinian communities. The incidents occurred at an average rate of six attacks per day, the highest since records began.

More than 2,200 Palestinians have been displaced since the beginning of the year due to settler violence and access restrictions. Meanwhile, about 850 Palestinians had been injured in settler-related incidents as of July 13, including nearly 690 who were directly injured by settlers.

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