The events in Tell, southwest of Nablus, last month were not an isolated act of violence. They were a warning. For years, Israel has treated Palestinian villages in the West Bank as open spaces for military raids, settler invasions, land theft and collective punishment. The expectation was that Palestinians would endure the violence, bury their dead and return to the same unbearable routine. In Tell, however, that carefully maintained equation was briefly disrupted. The confrontation began when armed Israeli settlers entered the area near the village, attempting to attack Palestinian homes.

Competing accounts of the deadly Tell confrontation highlight growing tensions over settler violence, Palestinian attacks, and the risk of a wider uprising.

The events in Tell, southwest of Nablus, last month were not an isolated act of violence. They were a warning. For years, Israel has treated Palestinian villages in the West Bank…