Israeli settlers are turning occupied West Bank's Palestinian lives into 'hell'

Mobs of Israeli settlers have become increasingly widespread throughout the occupied West Bank, often under the protection of the Israeli army. 

Their attacks on Palestinian villages and towns have escalated in recent weeks, including the establishment of new settlement outposts, the burning of homes, the destruction of property, and direct injuries to Palestinians.

In one incident this past Saturday morning, Adnan Amiriya, 53, was at home with his family when a group of armed Israeli settlers stormed his neighbourhood in the town of Kobar, north of Ramallah, occupied West Bank. 

Amiriya went out onto the balcony to see what was happening, and saw the settlers kidnapping his nephew, Mohammed, 33. He went down to rescue, but they beat and kidnapped him as well.

"They took us to a place near a settlement outpost they had recently established on town land. They forced us to take off our shirts and covered our eyes with them. They kept pushing us around, hitting us with weapons, sticks, or their shoes, and cursing us," he described to The New Arab.

One of the settlers was wearing a military uniform, and the Israeli army was present near the outpost, observing the events without intervening.

Amiriya and his nephew were detained for hours and beaten throughout. He was released a kilometre away from town, while his nephew Mohammed remained with them.

"I expected them to kill us or shoot us and leave us in the open, but they released me while the beatings continued until the last moment. Hours later, they released Mohammed to a location far from town," Amiriya remarked.

The Palestinian men were taken to the hospital with bruises and wounds. They remain fearful that attacks on neighbourhood and homes could occur again at any moment.

Israeli settlers' repeated attacks in this area over the past two weeks are intended to force Palestinians to leave so they can take control of the area under the pressure of the attacks.

"We will die in our homes and will never leave them. Where will we go? They are crazy if they think their attacks will force us to leave," Amiriya said.

Escalating mass attacks

The head of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, Mu'ayyad Shaaban, said in a press statement on 9 April, that Israeli settlers carried out 255 attacks in March alone.

Attacks by Israeli settlers ranged from armed assaults on Palestinian villages to vandalism, levelling land, uprooting trees, and property seizures. Most of these attacks were concentrated in the cities of Hebron (71 attacks), Nablus (42 attacks), Ramallah (31 attacks), and Salfit (28 attacks).

They carried out 224 acts of vandalism and theft of Palestinian property, affecting vast areas of land. They also uprooted 1,354 trees, including olive trees, in the cities of Nablus (925 trees), Salfit (309 trees), and Hebron (120 trees).

Settlers also attempted to establish six new illegal outposts since the beginning of last March, predominantly agricultural and pastoral in nature across the lands of the city of Nablus, and one outpost each in Jericho, Ramallah, and Tubas.

"The escalation of attempts to establish colonial outposts in the final stage falls within the framework of tearing apart Palestinian geography and imposing a reality of control over Palestinian land. Settlers are tasked with effecting changes on the ground, and then the official level is tasked with transforming this change into a reality by legalising and enforcing it, transforming it into a colonial site with full access to services," Shaaban's statement added.

In the village of Umm Safa, north of Ramallah, Israeli settlers raised the Israeli flag a few days ago at the summit of al-Ras mountain, which they had recently seized by force.

The village, which is surrounded on all sides by the Israeli army as well as military barriers, iron gates, and earth mounds, has been subjected to attacks by settlers, the construction of mobile homes, and the paving of a settlement road to the new outpost.

Marwan Sabah, head of the village council, told TNA that raising the Israeli flag is an attempt to legitimise the new illegal settlement outpost, whose presence means the demise of Palestinian life in the village.

"The situation in Umm Safa is worsening by the day, as the siege intensifies and attacks on our lands, bulldozing them, and uprooting our trees continue," Sabah remarked.

Simultaneously with the establishment of the settlement outpost on the mountaintop, settler bulldozers, protected by the Israeli army, are uprooting hundreds of olive trees in the valley opposite, tightening control over the village from both sides and trapping residents in their homes.

"This is a clear plan to displace the village's residents, who are facing a new catastrophe amid international silence," he added.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory (OCHA) said in its latest weekly humanitarian update in the occupied West Bank that three families, comprising nine Palestinians, were displaced from their homes near Ramallah due to Israeli settler violence.

"Humanitarian concerns related to settlement activity are growing. So far in 2025, Israeli authorities have advanced plans to build over 15,000 housing units in settlements, further entrenching a coercive environment that puts many Palestinians at risk of forcible transfer," the statement explained.

Between 15 and 21 April, OCHA documented 23 settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. These attacks resulted in the death of one Palestinian and the injury of 24 others, six of whom were injured by Israeli settlers who used iron bars, pepper spray, live ammunition, or physical assault.