Settlers

Attacks by extremist Jewish settlers against both Palestinians and Israeli security forces in the West Bank rose by 27% in 2025, according to figures presented by the IDF in January. 

The government prefers to call it a Jewish “nationalist crime,” and is averse to referring to it as “terrorism,” and those responsible for committing it “terrorists.”

In past efforts by Israel to expand control in the West Bank, the US has called for maintaining stability in the area, adding that US President Donald Trump has not backed total annexation.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society later confirmed that two Palestinians had been killed, a 14-year-old and a 32-year-old. It also stated that four others had been wounded by gunfire.

The group, numbering about 20, spray-painted graffiti on one of the house's walls that read "Revenge" and "Hello from Khirbat Abu Falah."

Oded Papourish, an activist injured in the village of Kusra last month, emphasized that settler violence “relies on the understanding that Israel's law enforcement will always stand by their side."

Khalil Hathaleen, head of the Umm al-Khair village council, said the barbed wire prevented children from taking their usual path through a valley to the school in the village center.

While settler attacks on West Bank Palestinian villagers and farmers continue to escalate, the government has done little but turn a blind eye.

This military regime is inherently coercive, and the violent acts committed by soldiers against Palestinians are, in effect, what the state expects of them.

Smotrich's comments came at a ceremony celebrating the establishment of a new settlement, called Maoz Tzur, in the Binyamin region of the West Bank.