B'Tselem says Israeli police allowed settlers to attack Palestinian village in West Bank

The Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem said on Tuesday that the attack by dozens of settlers on the Palestinian village of Susiya in the southern occupied West Bank on Monday was carried out amid “clear complicity” from the Israeli police, who allowed the settlers to leave.

Local activist Nasser Nawaj’ah in Susiya confirmed to Anadolu that Israeli settlers “attacked homes, smashed the windows of a number of vehicles, and made holes in a number of drinking water tanks.”

Israel bans construction in the village of Susiya, which is adjacent to an illegal Jewish settlement of the same name that was established on the village’s land in 1983. Around 250 residents live in caves and primitive tin shacks, most of which are under threat of demolition, including a school made up of mobile rooms.

B’Tselem, which documents crimes committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, shared a video showing the attack that took place on Monday evening. “Dozens of Israeli settlers invaded the Palestinian village of Khirbet Susiya yesterday and attacked the homes of several families, including [the home] of B’Tselem field researcher Nasser Nawaj’ah. They also vandalised a water tank and a private vehicle,” said the rights group on social media.

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“The police arrived after about 30 minutes and allowed the attackers to leave,” it added. “Witnesses at the scene identified one of the attackers as Shem Tov Luski, who was documented last August sexually harassing a Palestinian.”

On Sunday, B’Tselem said that settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is supported by the occupation government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, with the aim to “intimidate and displace residents.”

During 2024, Israeli settlers carried out 2,971 violations against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank, which led to the killing of 10 Palestinians and the destruction of more than 14,000 trees, according to data from the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission. “The number of settlers in the West Bank reached about 770,000 at the end of 2024, distributed among 180 settlements and 256 settlement outposts, of which 138 are classified as pastoral and agricultural.”

A settlement is established with the approval of the Israeli government, while settlement outposts are established by settlers without the approval of the government. All settlements and outposts are illegal under international law.

Coinciding with the start of the war of extermination on Gaza, the Israeli army and settlers escalated and expanded their attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, killing at least 905 Palestinians, wounding 6,700 and arresting 14,300 others, according to official Palestinian data.

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