While Global Focus Remains on Gaza, Israel's Settlers in the Occupied Territories Persist Operating Without Consequences

Last week, during a joint speech by American leader Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, colleague lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a sign urging the recognition of Palestine. We were forcibly removed from the legislative session, exposing the weak condition of what's often portrayed as the "only democratic state in the Middle East". How can leaders talk about regional peace while declining to recognize a people denied of basic freedoms and rights under decades-long occupation?

The Reality in the West Bank

In no place is the hypocrisy more evident than in the occupied West Bank. There, talk of peace seem remote and weak, while the terrifying echoes of settler violence and intimidation persist strongly. Over 30 occurrences of settler aggression against Palestinian civilians have been recorded since the unveiling of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in late September, including attacks, stealing of crops, and torching of vehicles and property.

Targeted Aggression During Agricultural Period

The rise in settler terrorism is deliberate. This time signals the start of harvest seasons. More than a crucial economic event, it constitutes an significant communal and national occasion that demonstrates resilience under occupation. Exactly for these reasons, annually colonists attack Palestinian farmers during this crucial time. During the 2024 harvest season, human rights organizations documented 113 separate cases of aggression, harassment, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive trees and produce involving Israeli civilians and military personnel, which took place on territories owned by 51 Palestinian-owned communities, municipalities, and areas.

Israel's military appeared to have played a larger role in hindering the harvesting season

The human rights group also discovered that "Israeli military appeared to have played a greater part in hindering the olive harvest". In about 70% of cases where entry to lands was violently prevented, troops, border guards, and settlement civilian security coordinators were actually present. They either personally stopped Palestinians from reaching and harvesting their property, or failed to prevent settlers who threatened or attacked them.

Government Support for Settler Activities

This comes as no surprise, as the leader of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an extra official in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for instance, a particular military coordination team removed personally-owned olive plants of local residents, claiming missing documentation, but ignored violations by an illegal nearby settler outpost. Last week, the local court ruled to halt all construction in the outpost, which was constructed on property taken by Israeli authorities and illegally transferred to colonists.

Takeover Ambitions and Global Reaction

In the occupied West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a tool used by the administration to pursue practical incorporation. Earlier this month, Smotrich headed a procession of thousands of settlers in support of taking over the West Bank. He was quoted as stating, "We are continuing to establish presence with our presence of the Land of Israel with numerous pioneers, many champions, and hundreds of thousands of colonists who live in this part of the land ... we need to normalize it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their supporters in the Knesset are clear about their motives and goals. Why, then, do political leaders in the west refrain from meaningful penalties and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was penalized by the United Kingdom in June, but the impact of the penalty has been minimal. He may not be able to go to the United Kingdom and visit the London's entertainment district, but he still maintains the governmental authority to seize lands in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of penalties, the British government highlighted they apply "personally" solely.

Global Recognition and Reality

If the British administration recognizes the truth of colonist aggression and its grave implications on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow goods from settlements to be sold in markets and shops in the UK? If Starmer is genuine about recognition of Palestine as a state, how come he permit the Israeli government to breach its sovereignty with such violent means? Or was the recognition an empty tactic to shut down dissenting voices in the UK, a hollow gesture only to be implemented in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward True Resolution

A just peace must honor the basic rights of the Palestinian population for self-determination, sovereignty, and liberty from military occupation and siege. Only when each human being's worth across the river and Mediterranean Sea is honored can we truly say reconciliation has been achieved.

True peace requires an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel: this is the sole formula that enjoises agreement among the global community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace advocates.

Trump may have applied pressure on the Israeli leader to stop the violence, but he likely only did so because the burden of his relationship with the isolated government of the Israeli PM had become too great. The mass protests across the world for the freedom of Palestine, and the persistent anti-government demonstrations inside the country, are the real factors behind this influence.

It is thanks to this massive public campaign that a ceasefire has been agreed, the captives released, and the people of the territory can experience safeguard from destruction. After the ceasefire agreement has been finalized, it is vital to keep applying this influence. The international community has ignored to the atrocities in Gaza for many years; it must not make the same error in the West Bank.