Israeli rights group documents over 100 settler attacks on Palestinians since 7 October

Extremist Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank protected by Israeli soldiers have carried out more than 100 attacks against Palestinians since 7 October, Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din has confirmed. The attacks are reported to have taken place in 62 different locations in the West Bank.

Four Palestinians were killed during attacks by settlers in the town of Qusra, south of Nablus, on 11 October. Another two were shot and killed after Israeli settlers attacked the funeral procession of the first four who were killed. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 105 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since 7 October.

Yesh Din reported that in various instances, settlers have engaged in the theft of Palestinian property, including solar panels and generators. They have also vandalised homes and vehicles, uprooting trees and setting fire to property.

The rights organisation asserted that not a single settler has faced detention, arrest or investigation in the aftermath of these attacks. Moreover, there was no response from the Israeli police when approached for comments.

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The group stated further that settler violence frequently seeks the displacement of Palestinian communities, with the aim of seizing their homes and lands. There has been a notable increase in settler violence this year, leading to entire Israeli shepherding communities being compelled to leave their homes.

The most recent village to be attacked by extremist settlers for this nefarious purpose was the Palestinian village of Wadi Al-Seeq, east of Ramallah. The local shepherding community was forced to leave over the past few weeks.

In the occupied Jordan Valley village of Ein Shabli, Palestinian residents were also forced to leave after weeks of attacks by armed settlers. Yesh Din said that residents received threatening phone calls from settlers posing as Shin Bet agents or police officers. The callers threatened violence due to the ongoing war against Gaza, Haaretz has reported.

All of Israel’s settlements and the settlers who live in them are illegal under international law.

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