While International Focus Stays on the Gaza Strip, Israel's Settlers in the West Bank Persist Operating Without Consequences

Last Monday, during a combined address by American leader Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, colleague lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner calling for the recognition of the Palestinian state. We were forcibly ejected from the legislative assembly, exposing the weak state of what's frequently portrayed as the "only democratic state in the region". How can leaders speak about Middle East peace while declining to recognize a population deprived of fundamental liberties and rights under decades-long military control?

The Reality in the West Bank

In no place is the hypocrisy more apparent than in the controlled West Bank. There, talk of reconciliation seem remote and faint, while the terrifying echoes of colonist attacks and intimidation persist strongly. More than 30 occurrences of violence by settlers against Palestinian civilians have been recorded since the announcement of the US 20-point plan in late September, including attacks, theft of agricultural produce, and burning of cars and belongings.

Systematic Violence During Harvest Season

The rise in settler terrorism is not coincidental. This period signals the start of agricultural harvesting. More than a vital economic activity, it represents an significant communal and cultural moment that demonstrates resilience under occupation. Exactly for these causes, annually colonists target Palestinians throughout this crucial period. During the last year's agricultural period, human rights organizations documented 113 separate cases of violence, intimidation, harvest-thwarting, or damage to olive groves and produce involving Israeli civilians and soldiers, which occurred on territories owned by 51 Palestinian-owned communities, towns, and communities.

Israeli military appeared to have played a greater part in hindering the harvesting season

The human rights group also found that "Israel's military seemed to have played a greater role in obstructing the olive harvest". In about 70% of instances where access to farmland was violently blocked, soldiers, border police officers, and settler civilian security coordinators were physically present. They either directly stopped Palestinians from reaching and gathering their property, or neglected to prevent colonists who harassed or assaulted them.

Government Backing for Settler Activities

This is no surprise, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra minister in the Defense Ministry responsible for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for instance, a particular COGAT unit removed personally-owned olive plants of Palestinians, claiming lack of permits, but overlooked infractions by an illegal adjacent settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court decided to halt all building work in the outpost, which was constructed on property seized by Israeli authorities and unlawfully transferred to colonists.

Takeover Goals and International Response

In the controlled West Bank, settler terrorism is simply a tool used by the government to achieve practical incorporation. Earlier this month, Smotrich led a march of thousands of colonists in support of annexation the West Bank. He was reported as stating, "We persist to take hold with our presence of the Land of Israel with many pioneers, numerous heroes, and hundreds of thousands of colonists who live in this part of the land ... we must to normalise it and establish it permanently."

The colonists and their supporters in the parliament are explicit about their motives and goals. Why, then, do government officials in the west refrain from substantial penalties and political actions? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in June, but the impact of the penalty has been minimal. He may not be permitted to go to the UK and tour the West End, but he still maintains the governmental authority to seize territories in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of sanctions, the British government highlighted they take place "personally" solely.

International Recognition and Reality

If the UK government acknowledges the truth of settler violence and its serious implications on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow goods from settlements to be sold in markets and outlets in the UK? If Starmer is genuine about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how can he allow the Israeli government to violate its independence with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an empty ploy to silence dissenting voices in the United Kingdom, a hollow act only to be implemented in the rebranding of some maps?

Route Toward True Resolution

A fair resolution must honor the basic entitlements of the Palestinian population for self-determination, independence, and liberty from occupation and siege. Only when each person's worth across the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea is honored can we truly say peace has been achieved.

Genuine peace demands an sovereign Palestinian nation alongside Israel: this is the sole solution that has consensus among the global community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace camp.

The former US president may have applied pressure on Netanyahu to halt the violence, but he probably only did so because the burden of his connection with the isolated government of the Israeli PM had become excessive. The large demonstrations throughout the world for the freedom of Palestinian territories, and the unwavering opposition demonstrations inside Israel, are the real factors behind this pressure.

It is due to this enormous public campaign that a truce has been signed, the captives released, and the residents of Gaza can experience safeguard from annihilation. After the ceasefire agreement has been signed, it is vital to keep maintaining this pressure. The international community has ignored to the violence in the strip for many years; it must not make the same mistake in the occupied territories.