While International Attention Stays on Gaza, Israeli Colonists in the West Bank Persist Operating With Impunity

Last week, amid a joint address by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner urging the acknowledgment 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 refusing to recognize a people denied of fundamental freedoms and entitlements under long-standing occupation?

The Reality in the West Bank

In no place is the deceit more evident than in the controlled West Bank. There, talk of reconciliation sound distant and weak, while the terrifying sounds of colonist attacks and intimidation continue strongly. More than 30 occurrences of settler aggression against Palestinian civilians have been recorded since the announcement of the Trump administration's peace proposal in September's end, including physical assaults, theft of agricultural produce, and torching of cars and belongings.

Targeted Aggression During Agricultural Period

The rise in settler terrorism is not coincidental. This period marks the start of harvest seasons. More than a crucial economic event, it represents an important social and cultural moment that demonstrates endurance under occupation. Exactly for these causes, year after year colonists target Palestinians throughout this precious time. During the last year's agricultural period, rights groups recorded 113 distinct incidents of aggression, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or damage to olive groves and produce involving settlers and military personnel, which occurred on lands owned by 51 Palestinian communities, towns, and communities.

Israel's security forces seemed to have played a greater role in obstructing the harvesting season

Yesh Din also discovered that "Israel's security forces appeared to have played a greater role in obstructing the harvesting season". In about 70% of cases where access to farmland was violently prevented, troops, border guards, and settlement civilian security coordinators were actually on site. They either personally prevented Palestinians from reaching and gathering their property, or neglected to stop colonists who threatened or assaulted them.

Government Backing for Colonization

This is no surprise, as the head of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra minister in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In Umm al-Khair, for example, a particular military coordination team removed private olive plants of Palestinians, citing missing documentation, but ignored infractions by an illegal adjacent settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to stop all building work in the encampment, which was constructed on lands taken by Israeli authorities and unlawfully transferred to colonists.

Annexation Ambitions and International Response

In the occupied West Bank, settler terrorism is nothing but a instrument used by the administration to achieve de-facto annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich headed a march of many of colonists in support of annexation the West Bank. He was quoted as stating, "We persist to establish presence with our presence of the territory with numerous settlers, many champions, and countless of colonists who live in this part of the land ... we need to normalize it and make it eternal."

The settlers and their supporters in the Knesset are explicit about their intentions and intentions. Why, then, do government officials in the Western nations hesitate from substantial penalties and political actions? Smotrich was penalized by the United Kingdom in June, but the impact of the sanction has been limited. He may not be permitted to go to the UK and tour the London's entertainment district, but he still maintains the governmental authority to seize lands in the West Bank. Remarkably in the declaration of sanctions, the British government highlighted they apply "in his personal capacity" only.

International Acknowledgment and Actual Situation

If the UK government acknowledges the truth of colonist aggression and its grave implications on Palestinian life, why does it still permit goods from settlements to be sold in markets and shops in Britain? If Starmer is serious about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how come he permit the Israeli administration to violate its independence with such violent means? Or was the acknowledgment an empty ploy to shut down dissenting voices in the United Kingdom, a meaningless act only to be implemented in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward True Resolution

A just resolution must honor the basic rights of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, sovereignty, and freedom from military occupation and siege. Only when every human being's worth between the Jordan River and sea is honored can we truly declare peace has been attained.

Genuine peace requires an sovereign Palestinian nation alongside Israel: this is the only solution that has agreement among the global community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace advocates.

Trump may have inflicted influence on the Israeli leader to stop the violence, but he probably only did so because the strain of his relationship with the isolated government of Netanyahu had become too great. The large demonstrations across the world for the liberation of Palestinian territories, and the persistent anti-government protests inside Israel, are the real forces behind this pressure.

It is due to this massive public campaign that a ceasefire has been signed, the captives released, and the residents of the territory can enjoy safeguard from destruction. Following the ceasefire agreement has been finalized, it is crucial to keep maintaining this pressure. The international community has turned a blind eye to the atrocities in Gaza for too long; it must not make the same mistake in the West Bank.