While International Attention Remains on Gaza, Israel's Colonists in the Occupied Territories Persist Operating Without Consequences

Last week, amid a joint address by American leader Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, colleague parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I raised a sign urging the acknowledgment of Palestine. We were violently ejected from the parliamentary session, exposing the fragile condition of what's often portrayed as the "sole democratic state in the region". How can leaders speak about Middle East peace while declining to recognize a population denied of basic liberties and rights under decades-long military control?

The Situation in the West Bank

Nowhere is the deceit more evident than in the controlled West Bank. There, words of peace sound distant and weak, while the terrifying sounds of colonist attacks and terror persist strongly. More than 30 occurrences of settler aggression against Palestinian civilians have been documented since the announcement of the US 20-point plan in September's end, including physical assaults, theft of crops, and torching of cars and property.

Targeted Aggression During Agricultural Period

The increase in settler terrorism is not coincidental. This period signals the beginning of agricultural harvesting. More than a vital economic activity, it represents an important communal and cultural moment that shows resilience under military rule. Precisely for these reasons, annually settlers target Palestinians throughout this crucial period. During the last year's agricultural period, human rights organizations recorded 113 separate incidents of violence, intimidation, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive groves and produce involving settlers and soldiers, which occurred on territories owned by 51 Palestinian-owned villages, towns, and areas.

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

The human rights group also discovered that "Israeli security forces appeared to have played a larger part in obstructing the olive harvest". In approximately 70% of cases where entry to lands was forcibly blocked, soldiers, border police officers, and settlement civilian security coordinators were actually on site. They either personally stopped Palestinians from accessing and harvesting their own lands, or failed to stop settlers who threatened or attacked them.

Political Backing for Settler Activities

This comes as no surprise, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an additional official in the Defense Ministry in charge of the territorial coordination unit. In Umm al-Khair, for instance, a particular COGAT unit uprooted private olive plants of local residents, citing missing documentation, but ignored violations by an unauthorized nearby colonist encampment. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to stop all building work in the outpost, which was built on lands seized by Israeli authorities and illegally transferred to colonists.

Annexation Ambitions and International Response

In the occupied West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a instrument used by the government to achieve practical incorporation. Earlier this month, Smotrich headed a procession of thousands of colonists in favor of annexation the West Bank. He was quoted as stating, "We are continuing to establish presence with our feet of the Land of Israel with numerous pioneers, many champions, and hundreds of thousands of colonists who reside in this area of the territory ... we must to normalize it and establish it permanently."

The colonists and their supporters in the parliament are clear about their motives and goals. Why, then, do political leaders in the west refrain from substantial sanctions and political actions? Smotrich was penalized by the UK in June, but the effect of the sanction has been minimal. He may not be able to go to the United Kingdom and tour the London's entertainment district, but he still maintains the governmental authority to take territories in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of sanctions, the British government highlighted they take place "personally" only.

International Acknowledgment and Reality

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 marketed in stores and shops in the UK? If the British leader is genuine about recognition of Palestine as a state, how can he allow the Israeli government to breach its independence with such violent means? Or was the recognition an empty ploy to silence opposition in the UK, a meaningless gesture only to be implemented in the relabeling of some maps?

Pathway to Genuine Peace

A fair resolution must respect the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, independence, and liberty from occupation and siege. Only when each human being's worth between the river and Mediterranean Sea is respected can we genuinely say peace has been attained.

Genuine peace demands an independent Palestinian nation alongside the Israeli state: this is the only formula that enjoises consensus among the global community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace advocates.

Trump may have inflicted influence on Netanyahu to stop the genocide, but he likely only did so because the burden of his connection with the isolated government of the Israeli PM had become excessive. The mass protests throughout the world for the freedom of Palestine, and the unwavering opposition demonstrations inside Israel, are the real forces behind this pressure.

It is thanks to this enormous public campaign that a truce has been agreed, the captives freed, and the residents of the territory can experience protection from destruction. Following the ceasefire agreement has been signed, it is crucial to continue applying this influence. The world has turned a blind eye to the violence in the strip for too long; it must not repeat the same mistake in the West Bank.