Israeli Forces Disrupt Funeral for Settler Attack Victims
Israeli occupation forces fired tear gas into a crowd of Palestinians gathered for the funeral of two individuals killed by settlers, an event that took place in a school in the occupied West Bank on April 22, 2026. The mourners were burying their dead when the Israeli military intervened, escalating an already somber occasion into another confrontation. Al Jazeera's report, like much mainstream
coverage, frames this incident as 'Israeli forces fire tear gas at funeral of Palestinians killed by settlers,' presenting the military's actions in isolation without deeper context. This framing obscures the consistent pattern of Israeli state forces providing protection and support to illegal settlers, who frequently perpetrate violence against Palestinian civilians. It ignores the deliberate
policy of settler expansion and concomitant violence, which is not merely tolerated but enabled by the Israeli military. The tear gas at a funeral is not an anomaly, but rather a predictable, calculated act designed to suppress any form of Palestinian collective expression, even grief. This particular incident fits into a long-standing historical record where Israeli state violence and settler
aggression are inextricably linked. For instance, the Sabra and Shatila massacre in 1982, where Israeli forces facilitated the entry of Phalangist militias into refugee camps resulting in the killing of thousands of unarmed civilians, stands as a stark reminder of state complicity in such atrocities. Over 680,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including 479,000 children, a deliberate,