Palestinian Gunman Kills Israeli Father of Six at Spring Near Neve Tzuf on Eve of Yom Kippur; Suspect Arrested

A suspected Palestinian gunman opened fire from a vehicle on Israelis gathered at a natural spring near the Neve Tzuf (Halamish) settlement in the Ramallah area on Sunday, September 20, 2026, the eve of Yom Kippur, killing Netanel Shukrun, 46 (also reported as father of six from Alei Zahav settlement), who had gone to immerse in the spring with his eldest son. Shukrun, a systems information analyst whose wife Meirav lectures at Ariel University, died of his wounds in hospital shortly after. The gunman, a 37-year-old resident of Bidu village near Jerusalem, fled on foot; Israeli commandos arrested him unarmed at a Ramallah-area hospital roughly three hours later and recovered the weapon. Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan said Shukrun was 'a man of kindness, humble and a lover of people ... murdered just after he finished immersing with his son ahead of Yom Kippur.' National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir demanded the attacker be executed under Israel's March 2026 death-penalty law for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks. Prime Minister Netanyahu said he had instructed security agencies to increase their presence and carry out arrests and offensive operations in the area; the IDF announced brigade-level raids, village closures around Ramallah and a planned home demolition, and said 27 battalion-equivalents are now deployed across the West Bank. Hamas praised the attack but denied responsibility.