Israeli forces launch wide search in Jordan Valley after stabbing incident in the occupied West Bank village of al-Auja.
Published On 23 Aug 2026
Israeli forces have launched search operations in the Jordan Valley after an Israeli man was wounded in a stabbing attack in a village in the eastern occupied West Bank.
Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported on Sunday, citing a security source, that the man was stabbed at a commercial complex on the main road near the village of al-Auja.
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The victim, a man aged in his 20s, was moderately wounded, Israeli police said.
The suspect escaped from the scene after carrying out the attack, according to the Israeli army, which launched a large-scale search operation in the area, supported by a substantial police presence.
The army said it had set up roadblocks in the village and the surrounding areas. The military is “in constant contact with the residents and security forces in the area”, it said in a post on Telegram.
The Palestinian group Hamas said the attack was a response to what it called Israeli violations and military operations in the occupied West Bank and Palestinian territories, as well as an escalation of violations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem.
“This operation demonstrates that our people are determined to resist the occupation in every part of Palestine, despite all the campaigns of oppression, persecution, and escalating terrorism against our people,” it said in a statement.
The incident comes amid a rise in state-backed Israeli settler violence against Palestinians across the occupied West Bank since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023.
Data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) shows that between January 1, 2025, and June 31, 2026, there were 3,033 Israeli settler attacks.
Some 1,291 settler attacks were recorded in 2023, rising to 1,449 in 2024, 1,835 in 2025, and 761 in the first four months of 2026. That equates to an average of 190 attacks per month in 2026, up from 153 per month in 2025 – a 24 percent increase in the monthly rate.
Gas bombs fired, entrance closed at al-Mughayyir
In a separate incident on Sunday, Israeli forces used gas bombs and closed the western entrance of al-Mughayyir village, north of Ramallah, according to video footage and Palestinian officials.
Video clips documented Israeli forces firing gas canisters while blocking the western entrance to the village. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli troops prevented residents from entering or leaving al-Mughayyir, subjected a number of them to field interrogations, mistreated young men, and fired gas bombs towards vehicles.
The agency added that the western entrance is currently the only outlet for the village after Israeli forces closed its eastern entrance in October 2023.
