Settlers kill a Palestinian teen in a West Bank clash, and other Middle
East developments
[August 22, 2026]
A Palestinian teenager was killed by Israeli settlers Friday after a
rock-throwing incident in the occupied West Bank.
Also, Turkey announced it is asking for an international warrant for the
arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his role in
stopping several boats trying to break a naval blockade of Gaza in May,
and an Israeli human rights watchdog is warning that settler violence
has expanded from rural to urban areas in the West Bank.
Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider
Middle East on Friday. Full coverage can be found here.
Palestinian teen killed by Israeli settlers after rock-throwing
incident
A 17-year-old Palestinian was killed and another man wounded by Israeli
settler gunfire after rocks were thrown Friday in Sa’ir, north of Hebron
in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
The ministry identified the teenager as Karim Sanad Raja Shalaldeh. The
teenager’s father told The Associated Press at the hospital that Israeli
settlers had killed his son.
The Israeli military said soldiers were dispatched to Sa’ir after
Palestinians threw rocks at Israeli civilians who were in the area
without prior authorization. Some Israelis were injured and a security
official opened fire.
Separately, the Palestinian General Authority for Civil Affairs informed
the Health Ministry that 58-year-old Fathi Khazem was fatally shot by
Israeli forces early Friday in Jenin.
An Israeli army official speaking on condition of anonymity in line with
military rules said Khazem attempted to stab an Israeli soldier during
an overnight operation. No Israeli soldiers were injured.
The Israeli official said Khazem was the father of Raed Khazem, who shot
and killed three people in Tel Aviv in April 2022.
Violence has escalated in the West Bank where at least 87 Palestinians
have been killed in almost 1,500 attacks by Israeli settlers and
soldiers this year, according to Palestinian officials. Three Israelis
have been killed by Palestinians in 2026.
— By Koral Saeed in Herzliya, Israel.
Turkey seeks international warrant for Netanyahu over May blockade
Turkey is seeking an international warrant for Netanyahu's arrest over
Israel’s interception of an international flotilla that attempted to
break a naval blockade of Gaza.
The Interpol red notice sought against Netanyahu and one other Israeli
national was tied to an Istanbul court case trying 35 defendants in
absentia for alleged “genocide,” other crimes against humanity, torture,
unlawful detention and hijacking, Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek
said in a statement posted on X.
The charges stem from the Israeli navy’s interception in May of several
vessels in international waters off Cyprus days after the flotilla
departed from the Turkish port of Marmaris. Some detained activists
reported mistreatment.
Turkey is among the most vocal critics of Israel’s government.
Netanyahu responded on social media, calling Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan an antisemitic dictator who has “massacred Kurds, harbors
Hamas terrorists, occupies half of Cyprus, and jails record numbers of
journalists and politicians who oppose him.”
“Erdogan’s pathetic attempt to intimidate the leaders and soldiers of
Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, will go nowhere,”
Netanyahu said Friday.
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Relatives of Palestinian Karim Shalaldeh, 17, cry over his body at a
hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (AP
Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Rights group says Israeli settler violence heads to established
Palestinian cities
An Israeli group that collects information about potential human
rights violations against Palestinians says reported incidents of
Israeli settler violence have moved from the rural West Bank toward
larger, more populated Palestinian cities and towns.
The establishment of new settlements and outposts throughout the
West Bank has emboldened extremist settlers, who are now encroaching
on larger communities that previously were far from the front lines
of settler violence, Yesh Din said in its report released Friday
titled “The Next Frontier.”
The uptick in violence corresponds with the Israeli government’s
approval of new settlements and the expansion of outposts that it
doesn’t authorize but often leaves in place, according to the
report.
“As outposts advance deeper into Palestinian territory, violence,
harassment and terror follow,” Yesh Din wrote.
Some 3 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule in the
West Bank alongside roughly 560,000 Israeli settlers.
Economic woes return to Lebanon
Lebanon’s economy is projected to contract 6.4% this year because
the latest Israel-Hezbollah war reversed the economic recovery of
the previous year, the World Bank said Friday.
The destruction from the war that started in March and related sharp
drop in tourism reversed a 4.2% growth seen in 2025 in Lebanon's
economy, the organization said.
The World Bank also predicts a sharp increase in inflation driven by
supply disruptions, higher shipping costs, and rising oil prices,
which will further reduce purchasing power.
Lebanon's economy has been in crisis since a 2019 banking collapse.
11 countries call Israeli airstrikes in Syria an extreme
escalation
The foreign ministers of 11 countries are calling Israel’s
airstrikes on a Syrian air base an extreme escalation.
The ministers of Turkey, Algeria, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon,
Malaysia, Mauritania, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and the
Palestinian territories warned that attacks on Syria undermine its
reconstruction efforts as well as its attempts to restore security,
according to a joint statement released by the Turkish Foreign
Ministry.
The Israeli strikes hit the Abu Duhur base early Tuesday, causing
damage but no casualties. Netanyahu’s office said Israel targeted
the base because Syria was about to breach an agreed “status quo in
security matters” by allowing Turkish troops to deploy there.
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