As International Focus Stays on Gaza, Israeli Colonists in the Occupied Territories Persist Operating Without Consequences

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 displayed a sign calling for the acknowledgment of the Palestinian state. We were violently ejected from the parliamentary assembly, exposing the weak state of what's often described as the "sole democracy in the Middle East". How can leaders speak about regional peace while declining to acknowledge a population deprived of fundamental freedoms and entitlements under decades-long occupation?

The Reality in the West Bank

Nowhere is the deceit more evident than in the controlled West Bank. There, talk of reconciliation seem remote and faint, while the frightening sounds of settler violence and intimidation persist strongly. Over 30 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinians have been recorded since the unveiling of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in September's end, including attacks, stealing of agricultural produce, and burning of vehicles and property.

Targeted Violence During Agricultural Period

The increase in violence by colonists is deliberate. This time signals the beginning of harvest seasons. Beyond a vital economic activity, it constitutes an significant communal and cultural occasion that shows endurance under military rule. Exactly for these reasons, year after year colonists target Palestinians throughout this crucial period. During the last year's agricultural season, human rights organizations documented 113 separate incidents of aggression, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or destruction to olive trees and crops involving Israeli civilians and military personnel, which took place on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian-owned villages, towns, and communities.

Israeli security forces seemed to have had a greater role in obstructing the harvesting season

Yesh Din also discovered that "Israeli military appeared to have played a larger part in hindering the harvesting season". In approximately 70% of instances where entry to farmland was forcibly prevented, troops, border police officers, and settler security officials were physically present. They either directly stopped Palestinians from accessing and harvesting their own lands, or failed to stop settlers who threatened or attacked them.

Political Support for Colonization

This comes as no surprise, as the leader of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an extra minister in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the territorial coordination unit. In Umm al-Khair, for instance, a particular military coordination team uprooted private olive plants of local residents, claiming missing documentation, but ignored infractions by an illegal nearby settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to halt all construction in the encampment, which was built on property seized by Israel and illegally transferred to settlers.

Annexation Ambitions and Global Reaction

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is simply a instrument used by the administration to pursue practical incorporation. Recently, Smotrich headed a procession of many of colonists in favor of annexation the West Bank. He was reported as stating, "We are continuing to take hold with our feet of the Land of Israel with many pioneers, many champions, and countless of settlers who live in this part of the territory ... we must to normalise it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their supporters in the Knesset are explicit about their motives and goals. Why, then, do political leaders in the Western nations refrain from substantial sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in June, but the impact of the sanction has been limited. He may not be permitted to go to the UK and visit the West End, but he still maintains the governmental authority to seize lands in the West Bank. Even in the declaration of sanctions, the UK highlighted they apply "personally" solely.

International Acknowledgment and Actual Situation

If the UK government recognizes the reality of settler violence and its grave consequences on Palestinian life, why does it still permit goods from settlements to be sold in stores and shops in Britain? If the British leader is genuine about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how come he permit the Israeli government to violate its independence with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an empty tactic to shut down opposition in the UK, a hollow gesture only to be realised in the rebranding of some maps?

Pathway to Genuine Peace

A just peace must honor the fundamental entitlements of the Palestinian population for self-determination, sovereignty, and liberty from occupation and blockade. Only when every human being's worth across the Jordan River and sea is respected can we truly say peace has been achieved.

Genuine peace requires an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel: this is the only solution that has agreement among the international community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace camp.

The former US president may have inflicted pressure on the Israeli leader to halt the violence, but he likely only did so because the burden of his relationship with the isolated government of the Israeli PM had become too great. The mass protests across the globe for the freedom of Palestine, and the unwavering opposition demonstrations inside the country, are the actual factors behind this influence.

It is thanks to this enormous public campaign that a truce has been agreed, the captives released, and the people of the territory can enjoy safeguard from annihilation. Following the truce arrangement has been finalized, it is vital to keep maintaining this pressure. The world has ignored to the atrocities in Gaza for too long; it must not make the same error in the West Bank.