While International Focus Stays on the Gaza Strip, Israeli Colonists in the Occupied Territories Persist Operating With Impunity

Last Monday, during a combined address by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, colleague parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner calling for the acknowledgment of Palestine. We were forcibly removed from the legislative assembly, revealing the fragile condition of what's frequently described as the "only democratic state in the Middle East". How can leaders talk about Middle East peace while declining to recognize a people denied 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 weak, while the frightening sounds of colonist attacks and terror continue strongly. Over 30 occurrences of settler aggression against Palestinians have been recorded since the announcement of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in September's end, featuring attacks, theft of agricultural produce, and torching of cars and property.

Systematic Aggression During Harvest Season

The increase in violence by colonists is deliberate. This time marks the start of harvest seasons. More than a vital economic activity, it represents an important communal and cultural occasion that demonstrates resilience under military rule. Precisely for these reasons, year after year settlers attack Palestinians during this precious period. During the 2024 harvest season, rights groups recorded 113 distinct incidents of violence, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or damage to olive trees and produce involving settlers and military personnel, which occurred on territories owned by 51 Palestinian-owned communities, towns, and areas.

Israeli military seemed to have had a larger part in obstructing the harvesting season

The human rights group also found that "Israeli security forces appeared to have played a larger part in hindering the harvesting season". In about 70% of cases where entry to farmland was forcibly prevented, troops, border guards, and settler civilian security coordinators were actually present. They either directly prevented Palestinian farmers from accessing and harvesting their property, or neglected to stop colonists who threatened or attacked them.

Government Support for Settler Activities

This is no surprise, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an additional minister in the Defense Ministry in charge of the territorial coordination unit. In Umm al-Khair, for example, a special COGAT unit removed personally-owned olive plants of Palestinians, claiming lack of permits, but overlooked infractions by an unauthorized adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the local court decided to halt all construction in the outpost, which was constructed on lands seized by Israeli authorities and unlawfully transferred to colonists.

Takeover Goals and International Reaction

In the occupied West Bank, colonist violence is simply a instrument used by the government to pursue de-facto incorporation. Earlier this month, Smotrich led a march of many of settlers in favor of annexation the West Bank. He was quoted as saying, "We persist to establish presence with our feet of the Land of Israel with many pioneers, many heroes, and countless of colonists who reside in this area of the territory ... we must to normalise it and establish it permanently."

The settlers and their backers in the parliament are clear about their motives and intentions. Why, then, do political leaders in the west refrain from substantial penalties and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the United Kingdom in June, but the effect of the sanction has been limited. He may not be permitted to go to the United Kingdom and visit the West End, but he still enjoys the ministerial power to seize lands in the West Bank. Remarkably in the announcement of penalties, the British government highlighted they apply "in his personal capacity" solely.

Global Acknowledgment and Reality

If the British administration acknowledges the reality of colonist aggression and its grave implications on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow settlement produce to be sold in markets and shops in Britain? If the British leader is serious about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a sovereign entity, how can he allow the Israeli administration to violate its independence with such violent means? Or was the acknowledgment an hollow tactic to silence dissenting voices in the United Kingdom, a meaningless act only to be implemented in the relabeling of some cartographic representations?

Pathway to True Resolution

A just resolution must respect the basic rights of the Palestinian people for self-determination, sovereignty, and freedom from military occupation and siege. Only when each human being's worth across the Jordan River and sea is honored can we genuinely say reconciliation has been achieved.

Genuine peace demands an sovereign Palestinian nation alongside the Israeli state: this is the sole solution that has agreement among the international community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace advocates.

Trump may have inflicted pressure on the Israeli leader to stop the genocide, but he probably only did so because the strain of his relationship with the isolated government of the Israeli PM had become excessive. The large demonstrations throughout the globe for the freedom of Palestinian territories, and the unwavering anti-government protests inside Israel, are the real factors behind this pressure.

It is due to this enormous public campaign that a ceasefire has been signed, the captives released, and the people of the territory can experience safeguard from annihilation. Following the truce arrangement has been signed, it is vital to keep maintaining this influence. The international community has turned a blind eye to the atrocities in the strip for too long; it must not make the same mistake in the occupied territories.