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israeli settler violence
'Disturbing Milestone': Israeli Settler Attacks in West Bank Surpass 1,000 Since October 7
"While a few individuals have been detained, no civilian or soldier has been prosecuted in connection with any of these 1,000 attacks," said a coalition of aid agencies.
Jul 05, 2024
A coalition of aid agencies on Friday implored the international community to take concrete, punitive action against the Israeli government and settlers after the number of settler attacks in the occupied West Bank since October 7 surpassed 1,000.
The Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA), a group of international organizations working in the occupied Palestinian territories, said in a statement that the rate of settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank has doubled since the same time last year, from an average of two per day to four.
"At least 10 people, including two children, have been killed during these attacks, and at least 234 have been injured, including 20 children. Since 7 October, 1,260 people, including 600 children, have been forcibly displaced amid settler violence and movement restrictions. The displaced households are from 20 herding and Bedouin communities throughout Area C of the West Bank. As one survivor of settler violence explained, 'No place is safe here.'"
"Settler violence is premeditated and orchestrated by organized groups from known outposts and settlements, with the support of Israel's government, including local and regional settlement councils," the group added, noting the limited sanctions that the United States and the European Union have imposed on individual settlers "have failed to reduce the frequency of attacks."
"While a few individuals have been detained, no civilian or soldier has been prosecuted in connection with any of these 1,000 attacks," AIDA said. "Reports indicate that some illegal outpost farms operated by sanctioned settlers—many of whom have been reported to be at the center of multiple violent incidents—have received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of material support from the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Settlements, the Settlement Administration in the Ministry of Defense, and through local and regional settlement councils."
"Foreign governments must act now to stop this illegal appropriation by taking meaningful measures to hold the Israeli government and perpetrators of these attacks to account."
AIDA urged the international community to "adopt new restrictive measures which go beyond individual settlers to target identified organizations and state entities who promote violence and/or take part in attacks on Palestinian civilians and civilian infrastructure."
The group also argued that the far-right Israeli government "should be held accountable for the repeated and evidence-based allegations that the military and other state authorities are tolerating, enabling, and at times participating in settler violence."
A Human Rights Watch report published in April found that the Israeli military "either took part in or did not protect Palestinians from violent settler attacks in the West Bank that have displaced people from 20 communities and have entirely uprooted at least seven communities" since October 7.
AIDA's statement came days after the Israeli government announced the seizure of nearly five square miles of land in the West Bank—Israel's largest land grab in the occupied Palestinian territory in more than three decades.
Sally Abi Khalil, Middle East and North Africa director for Oxfam International—an AIDA member—said Friday that settler attacks in the West Bank have reached a "disturbing milestone."
"In a context where outpost legalization is being fast-tracked, and Israel is stealing more and more land," said Khalil, "foreign governments must act now to stop this illegal appropriation by taking meaningful measures to hold the Israeli government and perpetrators of these attacks to account."
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UN Condemns Israel's 'Unlawful Killings' and Settler Violence in West Bank
The U.N. high commissioner for human rights called surging settler attacks on Palestinians "very disturbing."
Dec 28, 2023
A United Nations report released Thursday warned that conditions in the occupied West Bank have worsened rapidly since October, with Israeli settlers and soldiers ramping up violent attacks on the Palestinian population and subjecting people across the territory to frequent abuse, movement restrictions, arbitrary detention, and "unlawful killings."
The report by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights found that since October 7, settler attacks—including shootings and the burning of homes—have surged to an average of six per day, up from three per day previously. The report notes that in many cases, the settlers were "accompanied" by Israeli forces, wearing Israeli military uniforms, and carrying weapons supplied by the army.
Between October 7 and December 27, Israeli forces and settlers killed at least 300 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to the U.N. Israeli soldiers arrested more than 4,700 Palestinians during that period, holding many of them in so-called administrative detention without charge or trial.
Palestinian detainees have faced grotesque abuse and torture at the hands of Israeli soldiers, who have raided West Bank homes and refugee camps with increased frequency in recent weeks. Six Palestinian men died in Israeli detention between October 7 and November 20, the U.N. found. One of the men was reportedly insulin-dependent; he, along with others detained at the same time, was physically assaulted by Israeli soldiers.
The new report notes that members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have filmed and photographed themselves "abusing, degrading, and humiliating Palestinians apprehended in the West Bank, including pictures of detainees stripped naked or half-naked, blindfolded and handcuffed, and screaming in pain while physically abused and humiliated including by being forced to pose with the Israeli flag, sing songs in Hebrew or forced to dance with soldiers."
"In one of the videos, a Palestinian man, subsequently identified through monitoring as having been arrested on 31 October, is seen kneeling, blindfolded, and with hands tied behind his back, being kicked several times in the stomach by a soldier who spits on him and insults him," the report continues. "On 1 November, IDF reportedly stated they would investigate the abuses and that one reserve soldier had been dismissed from reserve service."
"The intensity of the violence and repression is something that has not been seen in years."
Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement Thursday that "the violations documented in this report repeat the pattern and nature of violations reported in the past in the context of the longstanding Israeli occupation of the West Bank."
"However," Türk added, "the intensity of the violence and repression is something that has not been seen in years."
Since October 7—when Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel and the IDF responded with a catastrophic bombing campaign—violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank has surged. Israeli officials have tallied at least 120 hate crimes committed in the occupied West Bank, but no charges have been brought in any of the cases, the U.N. said.
The report observed that Israeli settlers—with the support of the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—are "taking advantage of a generally permissive environment to accelerate displacement of Palestinians from their land, raising concerns of forcible transfer seeking to create facts on the ground making the existence of a viable Palestinian state almost impossible."
"According to Israeli organizations monitoring settlement expansion, settlers have built at least four new outposts since 7 October and at least nine new roads leading to settlements, marking a growth in illegal construction by settlers unprecedented since the second Intifada," the U.N. report says.
Türk called settlers' "dehumanization" of Palestinians "very disturbing" and said the attacks and illegal settlement expansions "must cease immediately."
"Israeli authorities should strongly censure and prevent settler violence and prosecute both its instigators and perpetrators," said Türk.
The U.N.'s findings were published as Al Jazeera reported that Israeli forces have "launched their most intense raids yet on cities in the occupied West Bank as they pressed on with one of the largest incursions in the territory since Israel's war on Gaza began in October."
"At least one person was killed after Israeli troops launched a coordinated overnight assault on 10 cities including Hebron, Halhul, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, el-Bireh, Jericho, and notably the center of Ramallah, which is the administrative headquarters of the Palestinian Authority," the outlet reported. "Israeli forces used tear gas and stun grenades to clear a street and then blocked off the area, before using a 'controlled explosion' to enter a money exchange shop. The soldiers seized documents and arrested business owners."
An Al Jazeera correspondent said that Israeli soldiers seized around $2.5 million in the raids.
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Rights Groups Urge Biden to 'Take Decisive Action' After Latest Israeli Attacks
Over 70 organizations are imploring the Biden administration to ensure that "not a single dollar of U.S. military aid to Israel" is used to fund human rights crimes against Palestinians.
Jul 06, 2023
As the West Bank reels from the latest attacks by Israeli soldiers and settlers, more than 70 U.S.-based advocacy groups on Wednesday implored the Biden administration to take immediateaction.
The organizations called for protecting Palestinians—including many American citizens—in the illegally occupied territory, holding Israel's government accountable for its crimes, and ensuring that none of the nearly $4 billion in annual U.S. military aid to Israel is used to violate Palestinians' human rights.
"During the past two weeks, dozens of Israeli settlers, some of whom may also be American citizens, recently carried out violent attacks on the Palestinian villages of Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya, and Turmus Ayya in the occupied West Bank," the groups wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
"These attacks involved the destruction of property, including arson and stone-throwing, resulting in damage to cars, homes, and businesses. Disturbingly, numerous Palestinians sustained injuries from live fire, either from settlers or soldiers," the letter continues.
"We urge your administration to prioritize the protection of Palestinians, including American Palestinians, in the West Bank and Gaza and address the injustices they face," the signers wrote.
On June 21, hundreds of masked Israeli settler-colonists stormed Turmus Ayya after Palestinian militants killed four Israelis near Eli, an illegal Jewish-only settler colony built partly on land stolen from residents of the Palestinian village of Qaryut. The attackers shot and killed one Palestinian and burned many homes, vehicles, and businesses.
"This situation is deeply troubling as it indicates a gross failure on the part of Israeli authorities to protect Palestinian lives and property," the groups' letter asserts. "It is important to note that many of the Palestinian civilians targeted in the town of Turmus Ayya are American citizens, heightening the urgency of this matter."
"These incidents bear an uncanny resemblance to wanton violent riots carried out by Israeli settlers targeting local Palestinians in the town of Huwara earlier this year," the letter adds, referring to the deadly February settler assault on the West Bank town that was condemned as a "pogrom" by Palestinian leaders, members of U.S. Congress, Israeli human rights groups—and even Israel's top general. The term originally referred to the organized mob attacks on Jewish people in Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century that drove many Jews to emigrate to and colonize Palestine.
After the Huwara attack, U.S. Jewish groups led calls for Israeli Finance Minister Belazel Smotrich—who said the town should be "wiped out" by Israel—to be banned from entering the United States. Smotrich was issued a visa and visited the U.S. in March on official business.
Wednesday's letter stresses that Israeli military and police were present throughout the settler attacks, but "they did not intervene to stop the violence."
"Instead," the signers noted, "they protected the settlers, allowing them to act with impunity."
"This failure to address settler violence effectively sends a clear message that the monopoly over power lies in the hands of the settlers, thus perpetuating a cycle of violence and injustice," the letter states.
Meanwhile, "Israel has been launching large-scale military campaigns in the occupied West Bank cities of Jenin, Nablus, and other cities, conducting air strikes on several buildings as armored vehicles advanced through civilian neighborhoods, many innocent people including children and women have been killed," the letter continues. "In the city of Jenin, the Israeli army has targeted apartment buildings, medics, ambulances, journalists, and media centers. Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 163 Palestinians this year, including 27 children."
"We strongly urge your administration to take decisive action by holding Israel accountable and enforcing the Leahy Law, ensuring that not a single dollar of U.S. military aid to Israel is used for purposes such as the military detention of Palestinian children, the demolition of Palestinian homes, or the annexation of Palestinian territories," the signers wrote.
The Leahy Law—named after former U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the legislation's primary sponsor—is actually a pair of statutory provisions barring the federal government from funding foreign forces credibly accused of perpetrating "gross violations of human rights."
Israel—which has been illegally occupying the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Syria's Golan Heights since 1967—has been credibly accused of crimes including indiscriminate and intentional killing of civilians, torture of adults and children, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid.
Progressive and other Democratic U.S. lawmakers in recent years have called for the application of the Leahy Law toward Israel.
Earlier this week, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)—the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress—led renewed calls for Congress to cut off the nearly $4 billion in annual U.S. military aid to the "violent Israeli apartheid regime."
Like most of his predecessors, Biden has at once nominally condemned Israeli crimes against Palestinians while also continuing to stand as the strategic country's number one ally and benefactor.
Earlier this week, the Israeli Defense Ministry said it would use American aid to purchase a third squadron of 25 F-35 fighter jets at an estimated cost of around $3 billion, or about nine months' worth of U.S. assistance.
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