As International Attention Stays on Gaza, Israeli Settlers in the West Bank Persist Acting With Impunity

Last week, amid a combined speech by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner urging the acknowledgment of the Palestinian state. We were forcibly removed from the legislative assembly, revealing the weak state of what's frequently described as the "only democracy in the region". How can leaders talk about Middle East peace while refusing to acknowledge a people deprived of basic liberties and entitlements under long-standing occupation?

The Situation in the Occupied West Bank

In no place is the hypocrisy more apparent than in the occupied West Bank. There, words of peace seem remote and faint, while the terrifying sounds of settler violence and terror persist loudly. More than 30 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinians have been recorded since the announcement of the Trump administration's peace proposal in September's end, including attacks, stealing of crops, and burning of vehicles and property.

Systematic Aggression During Agricultural Period

The increase in settler terrorism is deliberate. This time signals the beginning of agricultural harvesting. Beyond a crucial economic activity, it represents an significant social and national moment that shows resilience under military rule. Precisely for these causes, annually settlers attack Palestinians throughout this precious period. During the 2024 harvest season, human rights organizations recorded 113 separate cases of aggression, intimidation, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive groves and produce by settlers and soldiers, which occurred on territories belonging to 51 Palestinian communities, municipalities, and areas.

Israeli security forces seemed to have had a larger role in hindering the harvesting season

The human rights group also discovered that "Israel's military appeared to have had a larger role in obstructing the harvesting season". In approximately 70% of instances where entry to lands was forcibly prevented, soldiers, border guards, and settlement civilian security coordinators were actually on site. They either directly prevented Palestinians from reaching and harvesting their own lands, or neglected to stop settlers who harassed or assaulted them.

Political Backing for Colonization

This comes as no shock, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an additional official in the Defense Ministry responsible for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In Umm al-Khair, for instance, a special COGAT unit uprooted private olive trees of Palestinians, claiming lack of permits, but overlooked violations by an illegal adjacent settler outpost. Last week, the local court decided to halt all building work in the outpost, which was built on property seized by Israeli authorities and unlawfully given to colonists.

Annexation Goals and International Reaction

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a instrument used by the administration to achieve de-facto annexation. Recently, Smotrich led a march of many of settlers in support of taking over the West Bank. He was reported as saying, "We are continuing to take hold with our presence of the territory with many pioneers, many heroes, and countless of colonists who reside in this part of the land ... we must to normalize it and establish it permanently."

The settlers and their backers in the Knesset are clear about their intentions and intentions. Why, then, do political leaders in the west hesitate from meaningful penalties and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in June, but the impact of the sanction has been minimal. He may not be able to travel to the UK and tour the West End, but he still maintains the governmental authority to seize territories in the West Bank. Even in the declaration of penalties, the British government highlighted they take place "in his personal capacity" only.

Global Recognition and Actual Situation

If the UK government recognizes the truth of colonist aggression and its grave consequences on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow settlement produce to be sold in stores and shops in the UK? If Starmer is serious about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how can he allow the Israeli administration to breach its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the acknowledgment an empty ploy to shut down dissenting voices in the United Kingdom, a hollow gesture only to be realised in the relabeling of some cartographic representations?

Pathway to True Resolution

A just peace must respect the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, sovereignty, and freedom from military occupation and siege. Only when each human being's worth across the river and sea is honored can we genuinely say peace has been achieved.

Genuine resolution requires an independent Palestinian nation next to the Israeli state: this is the only solution that has agreement among the international community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace advocates.

The former US president may have applied influence on Netanyahu to halt the violence, but he likely only did so because the strain of his connection with the isolated government of the Israeli PM had become excessive. The mass protests throughout the world for the liberation of Palestine, and the unwavering opposition protests within Israel, are the real forces behind this influence.

It is due to this enormous public campaign that a truce has been agreed, the captives freed, and the people of the territory can experience safeguard from annihilation. Following the ceasefire agreement has been finalized, it is crucial to continue applying this influence. The international community has ignored to the atrocities in the strip for too long; it must not repeat the same mistake in the occupied territories.