Report: Escalation of Settler Terror in the West Bank Amid Clear Official Israeli Complicity

SadaNews - The National Office for the Defense of Land and Resistance to Settlement stated today, Saturday, that developments in the occupied West Bank are accelerating, where the security situation is deteriorating, and the terrorist acts committed by settlers against Palestinian citizens are significantly increasing.

In its weekly report monitoring the period from November 14 to November 21, 2025, it added that this year's olive-picking season has witnessed the worst wave of terror known in the West Bank for years. The "security establishment" data according to the newspaper "Yedioth Ahronoth" is conclusive in this regard, as 1,586 incidents of "Jewish national crimes" were recorded during the years of the war on Gaza, averaging two incidents per day, and 114 attacks by settlers against the Israeli army, border guards, and police. According to the "security institution" data, there is an escalation this year: an increase ranging between 20% and 25% in the number of incidents compared to last year.

The report continued: The occupation army, according to the newspaper, feels relieved that the Shin Bet security service is at least still committed to combating the phenomenon of "Jewish terrorism" and not washing its hands of these events under the pretext of criminal violations or a rejected educational phenomenon that needs to be addressed media-wise and educationally, as is required and applied in the Israeli government, with the appointment of a "project manager" for "hilltop youth" as an alternative to cancel administrative detention orders. The data also shows that since the beginning of this year, 174 Palestinians have been injured in incidents of national crimes, an increase of 12% compared to last year, and in total, 376 Palestinians have been injured in these incidents since the start of the war.

It clarified that reports from various Israeli civil society and human rights organizations like "Peace Now" and the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights (B'Tselem), as well as similar reports from international bodies, such as the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), have increasingly highlighted settler violence, which has surpassed all limits, prompting even U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to express concern that the recent waves of violence carried out by Israeli settlers in the West Bank could undermine U.S.-backed ceasefire efforts in Gaza, in addition to the EU's positions that condemned this violence and called for the occupying state to intervene to stop it.

The report indicated that this prompted the head of the occupation government, Benjamin Netanyahu, to break his long silence last Monday and announce that he would hold an urgent government meeting to ensure that Israelis behind attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are brought to justice, asserting that he is closely monitoring the violent disturbances and the attempts of a small and extreme group (as he described it) to take the law into their own hands (and in a previous statement to apply justice on their own), and that he would support the military and security forces that will continue to work firmly and without fear to maintain order to the fullest extent permitted by law.

The report noted that Netanyahu broke his silence not to provide protection to Palestinians but because a "small and extreme group" clashed with the occupation army during the horrific events that recently took place in the village of Jab’a in the Bethlehem governorate. Netanyahu seems to be trying to present himself as someone washing his hands of the settlers' crimes, perhaps forgetting or overlooking his true position on settler terrorism, since a year ago, precisely on August 28, 2024, he announced that he viewed "with extreme seriousness" the sanctions imposed by the United States at that time on Israeli settlers for committing violent acts against Palestinians in the West Bank, and that the issue was under discussion with the United States.

The report indicated that the Minister of the Occupation Army, Yoav Gallant, was clearer than his prime minister, as he also tried to wash his hands of settler violence, asserting after their clashes with the army, which coincided with the settlers' terrorist attack on the village of Jab’a, that the government would continue to develop and expand settlements throughout the occupied West Bank, in cooperation with the settlement leadership, while maintaining the law, securing the population, and stabilizing the region, and that he would not accept the attempts of a handful of violent rebels and criminals to take the law into their own hands and tarnish the reputation of settlers, nor would he allow them to harm army soldiers or divert troops from their tasks of protecting Israelis and thwarting "Palestinian terrorism," as he described it. However, he quickly reacted and announced, "Our government will continue to systematically develop and expand the settlement in the West Bank; we refuse to re-issue administrative detention orders against settlers from groups (Price Tag) and (Hilltop Youth)."

The report mentioned that Katz rejected considering the attacks carried out by settlers on Palestinian civilians in the village of Douma in the Nablus governorate, where they opened fire on citizens and set fire to properties and vehicles, as a terrorist act. In response to a question about that attack, Katz said in an interview with Army Radio on April 3 last year, "I do not consider this terrorism."

The report continued that "Israeli military officials in the Central Command are also trying to wash their hands of settler crimes"; according to the newspaper "Yedioth Ahronoth," the wave of settler violence originating from colonial outposts and pastoral farms has reached a dangerous level that led brigade leaders to demand that the Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, restore the administrative detention orders that the Minister of Defense canceled months ago. Army officers warned that the acts of violence they sometimes face are not only from local settlers but also include support or guidance from politicians and ministers, which hinders law enforcement and places soldiers in confrontation with government officials defending the settlers. In this regard, "Yedioth Ahronoth" also noted that the commander of the Israeli Central Command, Avi Melamed, boasts that he has established approximately 120 "farms," that is, random colonial outposts that are considered illegal according to "Israeli law" because the settlers establish them without an official decision or approval. An officer told the newspaper that "hundreds of the farms have been connected to infrastructure at a cost of billions of shekels, and the Israeli army remains silent and sends soldiers to help establish and guard them, even though these are illegal colonial outposts."

The report added that these settlers, who some describe as "troublemakers," call themselves according to Israeli media "David's Army," and they are the same "hilltop youth" who have left educational frameworks or have been expelled from them, and are well-known to the "security establishment." Indeed, these settlers, who commit brutal attacks against Palestinian citizens, operate in an organized manner, with field leaders such as Neria Ben Bazi and many others, and political references such as Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, and religious references such as Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburg and other extremist elements who have been entrusted by the Minister of Defense to take care of their affairs.

The report clarified that settler violence is part of a systematic government plan led by Smotrich and his arms in the "civil administration" to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state by creating geographic continuity between settlements and besieging Palestinian cities, by deploying dozens of colonial outposts and carving out settler roads. In contrast, pastoral farms and colonial outposts - which numbered 214 by the end of 2024 and control about 787,000 dunams - are used as organized platforms for violence against Palestinians.

On another front, the occupying authorities plan to seize about 1,800 dunams of land from the towns of Sebastia and Burqa north of Nablus under the pretext of developing the Sebastia archaeological site, in a step that includes the theft of vast areas of olive groves, and residents were only given 14 days to submit objections, according to what the newspaper "Haaretz" reported last Thursday. This is the second largest land seizure operation of its kind carried out by the authorities after seizing 286 dunams of land from Susya in the Hebron governorate for the same purpose in 1985.

The occupying government had allocated 30 million shekels in May 2023 for excavations and development in Sebastia and began renovation work on an adjacent old train station, in addition to 40 million shekels to enhance its control over archaeological sites in the West Bank. The organization of archaeologists "Umak Shaveh" considered that the government "under the pretext of caring for heritage is investing tens of millions of shekels in turning archaeological sites into a tool for displacement and annexation," pointing out that "the intention behind seizing private lands is anything but preservation, and its goal is to establish a tourist settlement that uproots Sebastia's heritage from its town and hybridizes the area through tourists."

Regarding the Israeli violations documented by the National Office for the Defense of Land, they were as follows during the preparation period of the report:

Jerusalem: Settlers attacked the Bedouin gathering "Al-Tabna" near Khan Al-Ahmar, throwing stones at the homes and properties of the residents, terrorizing children and women in the gathering. Others assaulted shepherds in the Bedouin groups "Abu Ghalia" and "Al-Ara'ra" near the area of "Al-Kasarat" adjacent to Anata.

In Sur Baher, settlers set up mobile homes on a plot of land of about 6 dunams, and in Aqabat Khalidiya in the Old City of Jerusalem, the occupying authorities notified 4 families of the demolition of their homes on the grounds that they are "unfit for habitation," as these notifications fall under a policy targeting the homes of citizens in the Old City and its surroundings.

In the town of Anata, occupation forces demolished a house belonging to the citizen Raed Hijaj Fahidat, measuring about 100 square meters, on the grounds of building without a permit.

Hebron: Several citizens were injured, and a house and two vehicles were set on fire on Monday night in an attack carried out by settlers with the protection of occupation forces on the town of Sa'ir, where they assaulted residents with clubs and sharp tools, causing several women to suffer bruises and causing significant damage to property. The occupation forces prevented ambulances and firefighting vehicles from reaching the "Wadi Sa'ir" area.

Last Wednesday, Israeli occupation forces delivered notices of demolition of homes, residences, and tents for citizens in the village of Jinba and Khirbet Al-Halawa in Masafer Yatta south of Hebron. On Wednesday evening, a citizen, his wife, and son were injured by a group of settlers while they were on their land in the "Zahr Al-Hawiya" area, near the settlement bypass road (number 60).

Bethlehem: Groups of settlers attacked the village of Jab’a, southwest of Bethlehem, on Monday evening, burning four vehicles and a "caravan," and throwing Molotov cocktails in the vicinity of 7 homes, causing damage to the window glass and igniting fires, before the townspeople were able to extinguish them. They also wrote racist slogans on the walls in the targeted area, demanding that the citizens leave the village.

On Tuesday, groups of settlers carried out vandalism, beginning to plow lands in the village of Al-Minya southeast of Bethlehem using a tractor they brought with them to damage the crops in citizens' lands. Israeli occupation forces also notified on Tuesday of the demolition of an inhabited house and another under construction, an agricultural room, and a farm for raising sheep in the village of Hosan, west of Bethlehem.

Ramallah: Armed settlers attacked four citizens on Saturday evening near the town of Beituniya while they were in a four-wheel vehicle, chasing the vehicle to the mountainous areas surrounding the nearby town of Beit Aur. Meanwhile, dozens of others stormed early Sunday into the entrance of the town of Sinjil and smashed four vehicles. On the same Sunday, settlers attacked the outskirts of the village of Al-Mughayer in the Khalail area, raiding agricultural lands and stealing agricultural equipment belonging to citizens from the village. On Tuesday and Wednesday, settlers infiltrated the town of Kafr Ni'ma and closed the town's entrance with earthen barriers.

Nablus: Settlers assaulted a Palestinian farmer in the town of Beit Furik while he was working in his land on Saturday, detaining him for hours, destroying his agricultural crop, and forcibly forcing him to leave his thyme-planted land. In a separate incident, others attacked a commercial store in the village of Dir Sharaf and broke its contents after infiltrating the village under the cover of darkness with the protection of Israeli occupation forces. Last Wednesday, a large force from the occupation army stormed the village of Furush Beit Dajan and started demolishing a house belonging to citizen Atef Abu Jash, estimated to measure about 120 square meters, located on the main road north of the village and inhabited by 5 individuals. It is noted that the occupation forces had previously issued notices of demolition for several houses in the area, as the village is undergoing a fierce attack, with over 90% of its homes facing demolition notices.

Settlers set fire to 6 "tourist villas" under construction on Mount Taruja between the villages of Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya and Amouriya south of Nablus, belonging to citizen Khalil Abu Saninah, while the guard of these "villas" was injured during his attempt to extinguish the fire.

Jericho and the Jordan Valley: Settlers, protected by the army, stormed the area of the northern Jordan Valley last Saturday, raiding citizens' homes and detaining them, as well as attempting to break into the doors of the school in the area. The occupation forces also demolished a residential facility and two livestock pens in the region on the same day.

On the following Sunday, settlers began fencing areas of land near the Tayaseer military checkpoint in the northern Jordan Valley, noting that part of the land is owned by citizens, and the other part belongs to the Latin Patriarchate, as this fencing will lead to closing thousands of dunams to citizens, while others continued to uproot lands in the area of Al-Hadidiya, amid fears of establishing a new colonial outpost in the area.

Salfit: Last Sunday morning, occupation forces uprooted dozens of olive trees from lands in Wadi Qana in the town of Deir Astia, and they also erected two new iron gates near the entrance to the town of Deir Ballout west of Salfit, one towards the village of Rafat, and the other towards the village of Al-Lubban Al-Gharbiya.

On Wednesday, settlers assaulted several farmers and destroyed olive trees in the town of Deir Ballout, where they attacked them with blows, sprayed them with pepper gas, stole an amount of money from them, and destroyed their agricultural equipment.