Record-high Israeli settler violence in West Bank with 1,246 attacks since Oct. 7: ICG

Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are at an “all-time high,” according to a report released Friday, coinciding with an Israeli large-scale military operation against armed groups in the territory.

In a report released on Friday titled “Stemming Israeli Settler Violence at Its Root,” the International Crisis Group (ICG) sheds light on the increasing attacks led by settlers, which the NGO says are enabled by the current far-right government coalition in Israel.

The report says the ongoing Israeli war in the Gaza Strip has diverted attention from the “systemic and growing violence” by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.

While commending some countries for imposing sanctions against individual settlers, the ICG says more action must be taken to stem the growing attacks against Palestinians.

“Settler violence is at an all-time high, with Israeli settlers harassing, terrorizing and killing Palestinians across the West Bank in greater numbers and with greater frequency and fervor. They are emboldened by a government committed to deepening control over the West Bank and foiling a Palestinian state,” Mairav Zonszein, the ICG’s senior Israel analyst and key contributor to the report, said in a statement Friday.

“To stem settler violence, the United States and other western countries should target not only individual settlers but state entities and policies that bolster the settlement enterprise.”

Background

Since the Hamas-Israel war broke out last October, the West Bank has been witnessing rising settler violence, accompanied by daily military raids in towns and villages. Last week the Israel military launched a major “counter-terrorism” operation in the West Bank, the deadliest since October, killing more than 30 Palestinians so far, according to the Ramallah-based Health Ministry.

According to the ICG report, settler attacks in the West Bank had already been increasing since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, which includes far-right ministers, took office in December 2022. After Hamas’ cross-border assault on southern Israel Oct. 7, attacks spiked as settlers felt “emboldened” to avenge the death of Israelis during Hamas’ onslaught, according to the report.

Between Oct. 7 and Aug. 12, 1,264 incidents of settler violence occurred, data provided to the ICG by OCHA, a UN humanitarian agency, shows. The attacks range from verbal harassment and intimidation to such violent acts as physical assaults, property damage and arson targeting Palestinian homes, fields and vehicles.

During this period, the attacks resulted in 21 deaths of Palestinians and 643 injuries, with the destruction of nearly 23,000 Palestinian-owned trees, according to the same data.

The ICG report also said settlers have seized thousands of acres of land from Palestinians over the past year alone, forcing more than 1,300 Palestinians out of their homes.

The NGO notes that the uptick in settler violence coincided with the expansion of settlements in the West Bank in recent years, which successive Israeli governments have encouraged. Under Netanyahu specifically, settlements have “dramatically” increased, according to the report.

Israel began building military posts and settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem after annexing it after the June 1967 war, citing security reasons. Now about 230,000 Israeli settlers live in occupied east Jerusalem, and some 500,000 live in the rest of the West Bank, where there are 300 settlements.

The settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, both internationally recognized as occupied territory, are considered illegal under international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from transferring its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.

Israel disputes this interpretation and has continued to expand settlements over the years, which the ICG warned could complicate the establishment of an independent, viable Palestinian state.

More recently, in July, the Israeli government approved a plan to establish 5,295 new housing units in settlements across the West Bank, in what the Israeli NGO Peace Now called the largest West Bank land seizure in more than three decades.

Motives

Settlers often carry out attacks in retaliation for violence by Palestinians, according to the ICG.

Several armed groups, mostly close to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have emerged in recent months in the West Bank to fight Israeli forces.

Between Oct. 7, 2023, and Sept. 2, 2024, Palestinians killed at least 18 Israelis in the West Bank, including 13 members of Israeli forces and five settlers. In Israel, 10 Israelis were killed by Palestinians during the same period, according to a Wednesday report by OCHA.

In its Friday report, the ICG said the “more fundamental motive” behind the settler violence is to displace Palestinians from their land.

Some settler leaders believe they are waging a battle for “the right to live in Judea and Samaria” — in reference to the West Bank.

“It’s not settler violence; it’s conflict over land. Two sides are at war, and [some] call it settler violence,” Shlomo Neeman, who heads the Yesha Council, an umbrella group representing Israeli settlers living in the West Bank, told the ICG.

How Israel deals with settlers

While the traditional security establishment in Israel often criticizes settler violence — saying it threatens the stability of the West Bank and Israel’s ties with the United States — there are some instances where Israeli soldiers are seen as protecting settlers during their rampages, according to the ICG.

Since Oct. 7, the United States, European Union and United Kingdom, among others, have imposed a series of sanctions against several individual settlers accused of intimidating and violently attacking Palestinians in the West Bank.

But the ICG says it’s not enough to stem the growing violence.

“Sanctions against violent settlers are a useful start. Yet the US, the UK and EU member states could go a step further, namely by extending individual sanctions to members of the government who abet such violence,” the report said, naming far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, who publicly endorse settlement activity.

The ICG also believes Washington could refrain from transferring weapons to Israel that will likely be used in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Meanwhile, EU member states should also ensure that their policies with Israel regarding trade and arms supply do not apply to the occupied territories.