A new Palestinian report reveals over 5,350 violations by Israeli settlers in the West Bank over the past decade, highlighting increasing violence, property destruction, and displacement of Palestinians. [Getty]
Israeli extremist settlers have been reported to have conducted over 5,250 illegal activities targeting Palestinians and their properties in the occupied West Bank over the past decade, according to a new report released on Saturday.
The National Bureau for Land Defense and Settlement Resistance, led by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), reported that settlers carried out violations such as violently attacking Palestinian residences and vehicles, including stone-throwing, as well as committing arson aimed at destroying houses, farms, businesses, and other private properties.
The report also highlighted the severe destruction of Palestinian-owned olive trees and water infrastructure, with settlers accused of theft, killing livestock, and forcibly displacing Palestinians in large numbers.
The National Bureau for Land Defense and Settlement Resistance also warned of a rise in gun violence since the onset of the Gaza war on 7 October 2023.
The bureau emphasised that the 16-month conflict has provided settlers with an opportunity to “advance their agenda of forcibly displacing Palestinians from their villages.”
A separate report by the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, citing testimonies from Israeli army soldiers, revealed that settlers have played a role in imposing military rule over Palestinians.
February alone saw 1,475 reported cases of attacks by Israeli forces, with 230 additional attacks committed by Israeli settlers.
According to the report, the majority of attacks occurred in the northern West Bank’s Nablus governorate, with 300 cases reported, followed by 267 cases in the southern West Bank’s Hebron, and 263 cases in the central West Bank’s Ramallah.
This Palestinian-led report follows the release of a UN investigation earlier this week, which highlighted Israel’s accelerated settlement expansion and annexation in the West Bank, raising serious human rights concerns.
The UN Human Rights Office revealed that between November 1, 2023, and October 31, 2024, there was a significant expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The report stated that over 20,000 housing units have been built in both new and existing Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem, a figure supported by Israeli NGOs.
Additionally, 214 Palestinian properties and structures have been demolished in East Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, more than 10,300 housing units are planned within existing Israeli settlements across the rest of the West Bank, and a record 49 new Israeli outposts have been established.
A report by Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now and Kerem Navot, released on Friday, also cautioned that settlers have exploited grazing practices to take control of 14 percent of the occupied West Bank by establishing shepherding outposts in recent years.
The Israeli NGOs stated that, over the past three years, 70 percent of the land seized by settlers was “taken under the guise of grazing activities.”
Earlier this March, several Israeli settlers, including some armed, attacked Palestinian residents in Ras Ein al Auja, with the protection of Israeli forces, according to a report from the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has described Israel’s settlement policy, acts of annexation, and other forms of Israeli legislation deemed “discriminatory” as “in breach of international law, as the International Court of Justice has confirmed, and violate Palestinians’ right to self-determination”.Â
Turk further stated, “Israel must immediately and completely cease all settlement activities and evacuate all settlers, stop the forcible transfer of the Palestinian population, and prevent and punish attacks by its security forces and settlers.”
Several Israeli far-right politicians, including some members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, have recently suggested using the close alignment with the US administration under President Donald Trump to annex all or part of the West Bank in 2025.
The sanctions imposed on extremist settlers during the administration of former President Joe Biden were lifted by Trump upon his return to office.
