While International Attention Stays on Gaza, Israel's Settlers in the West Bank Continue Acting Without Consequences

Last Monday, amid a combined speech by American leader Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I displayed a sign urging the acknowledgment of Palestine. We were violently removed from the legislative session, exposing the weak state of what's frequently portrayed as the "only democracy in the Middle East". How can officials talk about Middle East peace while refusing to recognize a population deprived of basic freedoms and entitlements under decades-long military control?

The Reality in the West Bank

Nowhere is the deceit more apparent than in the controlled West Bank. There, words of reconciliation seem remote and weak, while the terrifying sounds of colonist attacks and terror persist loudly. Over 30 occurrences of settler aggression against Palestinians have been documented since the unveiling of the US 20-point plan in late September, including attacks, stealing of crops, and burning of cars and property.

Systematic Aggression During Harvest Season

The increase in violence by colonists is deliberate. This time signals the start of harvest seasons. Beyond a crucial economic activity, it represents an significant social and national moment that demonstrates endurance under occupation. Exactly for these reasons, annually colonists target Palestinian farmers during this crucial period. During the last year's agricultural season, human rights organizations recorded 113 separate incidents of violence, intimidation, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive groves and crops involving settlers and military personnel, which occurred on territories belonging to 51 Palestinian villages, municipalities, and communities.

Israel's security forces appeared to have played a larger role in obstructing the harvesting season

Yesh Din also discovered that "Israel's military appeared to have had a larger part in obstructing the harvesting season". In approximately 70% of cases where access to farmland was violently prevented, troops, border police officers, and settlement civilian security coordinators were actually on site. They either directly prevented Palestinians from accessing and harvesting their property, or failed to prevent colonists who harassed or assaulted them.

Government Support for Settler Activities

This is no shock, as the leader of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra minister in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In Umm al-Khair, for example, a particular military coordination team removed private olive plants of local residents, citing lack of permits, but ignored infractions by an unauthorized nearby colonist encampment. Last week, the local court ruled to stop all construction in the encampment, which was built on property seized by Israeli authorities and unlawfully given to colonists.

Annexation Goals and International Response

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a tool used by the administration to pursue practical annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich headed a march of many of colonists in support of annexation the West Bank. He was quoted as stating, "We are continuing to take hold with our presence of the Land of Israel with many settlers, many champions, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who reside in this part of the territory ... we must to normalize it and make it eternal."

The settlers and their supporters in the parliament are clear about their motives and goals. Why, then, do political leaders in the west refrain from substantial penalties and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the United Kingdom in the summer, but the impact of the sanction has been limited. He may not be permitted to go to the UK and visit the West End, but he still maintains the governmental authority to take lands in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of sanctions, the British government highlighted they take place "in his personal capacity" solely.

International Acknowledgment and Reality

If the UK government acknowledges the reality of colonist aggression and its serious consequences on Palestinian life, why does it still allow settlement produce to be marketed in markets and outlets in the UK? If Starmer is genuine about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a sovereign entity, how can he allow the Israeli administration to violate its sovereignty with such violent means? Or was the acknowledgment an hollow ploy to silence opposition in the UK, a hollow gesture only to be implemented in the relabeling of some cartographic representations?

Pathway to True Resolution

A just peace must honor the basic entitlements of the Palestinian people for self-determination, independence, and freedom from military occupation and siege. Only when each person's dignity across the river and Mediterranean Sea is honored can we genuinely say peace has been achieved.

True resolution requires an sovereign Palestinian nation alongside the Israeli state: this is the only formula that has agreement among the global community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace advocates.

The former US president may have applied pressure on Netanyahu to stop the genocide, but he probably only did so because the burden of his connection with the isolated government of Netanyahu had become excessive. The mass protests across the globe for the freedom of Palestinian territories, and the persistent opposition demonstrations within the country, are the actual factors behind this influence.

It is thanks to this enormous public campaign that a truce has been signed, the hostages released, and the people of Gaza can enjoy safeguard from annihilation. After the truce arrangement has been finalized, it is crucial to continue maintaining this influence. The world has turned a blind eye to the violence in Gaza for too long; it must not make the same mistake in the occupied territories.