Report: Settler Terrorism is Intensifying and Exceeding Alleged 'U.S. Pressure' on Netanyahu's Government

SadaNews - The "Euronews" news network, which is considered the most followed in Europe and is based in Lyon, France, with a main newsroom in Brussels, the capital of the European Union, revealed a document it said it obtained exclusively, indicating that the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed the army and police of the occupation to control settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

It added that this directive falls under an unpublished document titled "Prime Minister's Instructions on Combating National Crimes in Judea and Samaria" (the Hebrew term for the West Bank), in an unusual move, where it called for the occupation army to transfer some of its forces from the Lebanese front to the West Bank to curb violence from Jewish settlers.

This directive from Netanyahu, according to "Euronews", came during the last Security Cabinet meeting on March 25, stipulating "the reinforcement of Israeli army forces in the West Bank to enhance the "combating of national crimes" and ensure an effective presence of forces in friction areas, emphasizing that new settlements should not be established in area "B" as defined by the agreements signed between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, which are under joint Palestinian and Israeli control.

The network pointed out that Netanyahu has previously condemned settler violence but has consistently described it as resulting from the actions of a few extremists, rather than a widespread phenomenon, making this shift in policy and the call for troops more notable. The directives also impose economic sanctions on settlers who establish new illegal settlements due to the costs incurred by the Israeli army to dismantle them and call on government ministers to support "combating national crimes in Judea and Samaria", seemingly at odds with both Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who encourage settlement expansion, at a time when several European countries imposed sanctions on the ministers, including travel bans.

The network adds that facts prove the responsibility of these "hilltop youth" for establishing outposts on private Palestinian lands, in addition to carrying out attacks against Palestinians, vandalism and looting of their property, as well as violently confronting Israeli army and police forces during the evacuation operations of those outposts, attributing to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) more than 1,800 recorded attacks and the displacement of about 1,600 Palestinians during the year 2025. Moreover, around 240 Palestinians have been killed by settlers or the army during the same year.

Meanwhile, the Israeli newspaper "Maariv" reported simultaneously with "Euronews" that following the escalation of U.S. criticism of settler violence in the West Bank, Washington conveyed a stern message to Israel stating that the statements coming from the Israeli government are no longer sufficient; and that there is a need for concrete steps on the ground to address this phenomenon, including a ban on Israeli construction in area "B", and the immediate evacuation of any construction that takes place in the area in violation of instructions, imposing economic sanctions and fines on offenders. The government responded to U.S. pressure and kept its decision away from public opinion for clear political reasons, but at the same time, immediately informed the U.S. administration, which expressed satisfaction with this direction.

Regardless of the extent of U.S. intervention and pressure on Netanyahu's government to curb settlers in the West Bank, the violence and terrorism of these settlers evoke growing reactions among liberal Jewish circles worldwide. Prominent leaders in what is termed the Jewish diaspora have called on Israeli President Isaac Herzog to intervene to stop the attacks by extremist settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, following a surge in Israeli terrorism in recent weeks. This call was made in an open letter signed by more than 3000 individuals, including former British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind, along with diplomats, rabbis, and academics from Australia, Canada, Europe, South Africa, the UK, and the USA. The letter was organized by the "London Initiative", a liberal Jewish network comprising about 360 Jewish and Israeli personalities following a series of killings and arson attacks carried out by settlers against Palestinian civilians during March.

The letter affirmed that Israeli security forces are capable of protecting Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, who live under varying levels of Israeli military and civil control, from settler terrorism, emphasizing that a lack of decisive action reflects a void of clear government directives. The letter, which coincided with the Jewish Passover, stressed that "the terrorism, death, and destruction inflicted by Israeli Jewish extremists on innocent Palestinians across the West Bank are abhorrent" and considered that these practices not only represent a moral stain but pose a strategic threat to Israel's future, damaging its relations with Jews worldwide, particularly with future generations. Especially since what is occurring on the ground, alongside statements from some of the more extreme coalition government partners, leads to the conclusion that aggression in the West Bank is not only overlooked but may be part of an existing policy.
This letter follows an earlier message addressed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in August 2025, signed by approximately 6,300 Jews from around the world, calling for the resumption of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, an end to the war, and the enforcement of law in the West Bank. The recent letter noted that the situation has deteriorated since then, especially regarding settler attacks and their supporters, which reached unprecedented levels during the recent war with Iran.

The office of Israeli President Isaac Herzog responded to the letter via the "X" platform, referencing what it described as the recent escalation of violence by extremist elements in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), and to the serious crimes committed against innocents. Herzog claimed that he shares the signatories' conviction that these actions contradict Israeli values and the moral traditions of the Jewish people, emphasizing that he urged the relevant authorities to use all available means to hold the perpetrators accountable and put an immediate end to this phenomenon.

Indeed, according to many sources, settler terrorist groups carried out 638 attacks on Palestinian citizens and their property last March, representing a 177% increase compared to the same period last year, 2025. These attacks have resulted in the martyrdom of ten Palestinian citizens, three in Nablus, two in Hebron, two in Ramallah, one in Salfit, and two martyrs in Jerusalem while 190 citizens sustained various injuries as a result of assaults involving gunfire, beatings, and stone throwing, including 11 children and 7 women. The attacks included the destruction and uprooting of 729 fruit trees, the theft of 1,255 heads of livestock, and approximately 84 vehicles were damaged due to burning or stone-throwing, along with four homes set ablaze and a large number of agricultural facilities.

In a move to suggest that the occupation authorities have begun to expand their so-called "law enforcement agencies" to rein in settlers, the Israeli police, responsible for law enforcement, announced last Sunday the arrest of eight settlers on suspicion of their involvement in an attack on the town of Qusra in Nablus Governorate. The Israeli police stated in a release that eight "suspects" aged between 13 and 48 were arrested on suspicion of being involved in an assault and arson incident in Qusra, located southeast of Nablus. A group of settlers, under the protection of the occupation forces, attacked the southern area of the town and severely beat a young man; they also burned two sheds aimed at raising livestock. This police announcement is merely a façade, as the terrorist groups from the hilltop youth and price tag do not leave this town or the area, continually playing a "cat and mouse" game with the occupation army. Last January, settlers established a new pastoral outpost on the strategic summit of "Ein Einah" between Qusra and Talfit south of Nablus, erecting tents and communication towers, with the aim of seizing thousands of dunams of agricultural land in the villages of Talfit, Qusra, Jaloud, and Qaryut. Since the establishment of that cursed outpost, the situation in the area has not calmed, and settler assaults on citizens have escalated, resulting in several martyrs in Qaryut and Qusra; the game continues, as the occupation army dismantles the tents and towers, and no sooner does it turn its back than the settlers return to set them up again, launching new attacks on the inhabitants of the aforementioned villages, and so forth.

On another note, the Civil Administration of the occupation army, which is under Bezalel Smotrich, issued an executive order last week targeting the lands of the village of Al-Jib northwest of Jerusalem, in a move that falls within expansionist plans threatening massive confiscation for settlement purposes. According to an announcement published by the official in charge of "government lands and absentee properties" in this administration on March 11, an "interim use" plan for lands classified as state lands in the village was approved, paving the way for their utilization for settlement purposes. The targeted area measures 6.83 dunams, located in section number 3 in the "Biddu Piece" area, granting Palestinian landowners a 30-day period to submit their objections. The plan also includes the imposition of new security measures in the area, particularly at the junction leading to the settlements of "Giv'at Ze'ev" and "Har Samuel", alongside modifying the routes used by settlers between the bypass roads 4362 and 4360, while beneath them passes a tunnel designated for civilian movement connecting several villages northwest of Jerusalem. This is part of a broader plan including the construction of around 800 settlement units on an area of 268 dunams of the lands of Al-Jib and Nabi Samuel villages, aimed at expanding the "Har Samuel" settlement. This is included in the "Giv'at Ze'ev" settlement cluster, which consists of 11 settlements over an area of approximately 30,000 dunams inhabited by about 29,000 settlers, and is considered one of the prominent targeted clusters within the "Greater Jerusalem" plan aimed at linking and effectively annexing the settlement blocs surrounding the city through the separation wall and urban expansion.