Escalating Settler Violence in West Bank Strains Israeli Society

Sun Nov 30 2025 21:34:39 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Recent spikes in settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank raise alarm over community fractures and governmental complicity, threatening a volatile situation.

In a troubling escalation of violence, the West Bank has witnessed a record number of attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians and property, marking a sharp increase since the onset of the Gaza War. With the United Nations reporting over 260 settler attacks in October alone, critics point to government support for hardline expansionist settlers as a catalyst for this violence. This growing tension not only endangers Palestinian communities but also risks deepening divisions within Israeli society and its security forces.

The marks of the attack on Hamida Mosque, near Deir Istiya in the occupied West Bank, are still scattered on the ground outside.

Charred furniture, lecterns and smoky curls of carpet are piled around the entrance - its guts emptied, and debris cleared, in time for Friday prayers.

Dozens of men arrived for the prayers in a show of defiance - their backs turned towards the scorched and blackened wall.

The imam here, Ahmad Salman, told the BBC the attack on Thursday was a message from Jewish settlers, amid a wave of settler violence across the West Bank.

The message they want to send is that they can reach anywhere - into cities, into villages, that they can kill civilians and burn houses and mosques.

Spiralling settler attacks here over the past six weeks have triggered tough warnings from army leaders, along with a handful of arrests and investigations. But hardline expansionist settlers enjoy government support, which some believe is pushing the West Bank towards a dangerous confrontation.

This year's annual olive harvest has seen a notable spike in violence, breaking UN records with over 260 reported attacks resulting in casualties or property damage in October alone - the highest since monitoring began in 2006.

Human rights groups indicate that settler aggression has escalated since the conflict in Gaza started, resulting in more than 3,200 Palestinians forcibly displaced due to violence and restrictions.

Despite calls from within the military to suppress settler violence, hardline settlers and their supporters downplay the significance of these attacks, expressing distrust in military leadership and accusing critics of misrepresenting the situation.

As tension mounts, it is evident that the rise in settler violence is not only a humanitarian crisis but a reflection of broader political fractures within Israeli society, challenging both military and civil government solidarity.