Israeli settlers commit violence across multiple West Bank villages over the past week
Al Jazeera Staff
Israeli settlers have been committing acts of violence across multiple West Bank villages, including vandalizing olive groves, seizing land, and forcibly displacing Palestinian families. The escalation, which comes amid ongoing Israeli operations in Gaza, has drawn international condemnation, including new EU sanctions targeting violent settlers.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated on Friday (May 9): “We are building the Land of Israel and destroying the idea of a Palestinian state.” This remark followed Israel's uprooting of 3,000 trees planted by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The destruction of trees—aimed at expanding illegal Israeli settlements—is among numerous Israeli actions over the past week, underscoring a relentless effort to extend control over the West Bank. These activities coincide with ongoing Israeli violence in Gaza, which has killed at least 13 Palestinians, mainly targeting police.
On Sunday (May 11), the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill formally repealing the 1993 Oslo Accords—the foundational agreement establishing the Palestinian Authority and dividing the West Bank into Areas A, B, and C. Far-right lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech, who proposed the bill, stated: “We promised to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and now is the time to encourage settlement in Areas A and B, while canceling the disastrous Oslo Accords.” According to Israeli media, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested a postponement of the bill's debate, but Justice Minister Yarir Levin expressed future support, saying, “Just as we returned to Sa-Nur, we will return to other places.”
In Gaza, documents collected by the Times of Israel reveal that the so-called “Peace Council” does not intend to hold Israel to ceasefire commitments if Hamas rejects the disarmament framework. Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) condemned Israel’s expansion of the “road cam” in Gaza—a restricted zone covering over 60% of the Strip—arguing this contradicts commitments to withdraw forces under the “October ceasefire.”
Israeli attacks in Gaza continued during the week, causing multiple fatalities, including Azzam al-Hayya, son of Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, who died on Thursday (May 15) from wounds sustained in an attack the previous night in Gaza City. Other casualties include a child in Gaza City on May 5, two police officers in a drone strike in Khan Younis, and three other Palestinians in an attack on the Maghazi refugee camp. In total, over 854 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the “October ceasefire,” raising the total death toll since October 2023 to more than 72,740.
In the West Bank, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian on Monday (May 12) during a raid on the Qalandiya refugee camp; Israeli police stated the individual fired at them, while Palestinian news agency Wafa reported a resident was severely wounded—accounts could not be independently verified. According to the UN, at least 44 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since early 2026, including 13 by settlers, with over 760 settler attacks, averaging six per day. Approximately 2,000 Palestinians, nearly 900 of them children, have been displaced in 2026 due to settler violence and access restrictions.
On Monday, the EU adopted a new sanctions package targeting violent settlers in the West Bank as well as Hamas officials. The Israeli government rejected this move, with Foreign Minister Gideon Saar calling the sanctions “unfounded.” However, in practice, settlers have been wreaking havoc across villages over the past week.
According to local activist networks, settlers, some armed, walked through the villages of Abwein and Jilijliya near Ramallah, seized the Ein Sala spring, and barred residents from accessing it. In Jalud, northern West Bank, settlers used bulldozers to uproot hundreds of olive trees overnight. In Deir Istiya, Salfit governorate, settlers established a new outpost on land belonging to an Islamic religious trust, drawing water pipes from the Revava settlement through Palestinian olive groves. Another illegal outpost was reportedly erected on May 11 in Rammun, east of Ramallah. In Bardala, Jordan Valley, Israeli forces accompanied bulldozers to destroy 1.4 hectares of greenhouses and water pipes, causing damages exceeding 1 million shekels (approximately $344,610). In Sinjil, settlers installed surveillance cameras on Palestinian land and blocked agricultural roads.
In al-Asa’asa, south of Jenin, settlers forced a Palestinian family to exhume the body of their father—Hussein Asasa, 80, who died of natural causes and was buried with a permit coordinated with Israeli security—to rebury him elsewhere, claiming the cemetery was near the newly resettled Tarsala outpost. Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office, called the incident “appalling,” stating it “reflects the dehumanization of Palestinians we are witnessing across the occupied Palestinian territory.”
In Umm al-Khair in Masafer Yatta, settlers seized a donor-built football field on May 9, chanting hymns while children in jerseys watched in silence, as confirmed by village chief Khalil al-Hathaleen to Al Jazeera. In Khirbet Abu Falah, east of Ramallah, images and videos from activists show settlers conducting a pre-dawn raid, setting fire to vehicles and spray-painting “revenge” on house walls.
