West Bank Settler Violence Soars to Record Levels as Annexation Threat Looms
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported that colonist violence in the West Bank has recently escalated to its highest level in more than a decade, WAFA news agency reported.
In a statement released on Sunday, UNRWA said last month was the most violent since the start of regular documentation of such incidents 12 to 13 years ago.
According to the agency, most attacks were concentrated during the olive harvest season, with Palestinian farmers facing assaults and being denied access to their lands. The incidents threaten their livelihoods amid a rise in armed attacks and deliberate property burnings.
The report also highlighted the ongoing forced displacement of Palestinians from their lands, particularly in the northern West Bank, including Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams refugee camps. These displacements are occurring alongside the expansion of colonization and the demolition and evacuation of homes, leading to the displacement of hundreds of Palestinian families.
The attacks included stone-throwing, gunfire, vehicle and property arson, and the expulsion of Palestinians from agricultural lands.
UNRWA warned that, in the absence of effective measures to curb them, these violations will persist and could pave the way for further “Israeli” annexation of Palestinian lands.
In the same context, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Saturday that this year’s olive harvest season in the occupied West Bank has seen the highest level of illegal settler attacks in five years, with 126 attacks recorded in 70 Palestinian towns and villages, while over 4,000 olive trees and saplings were vandalized.
“The 2025 olive harvest season has so far witnessed the highest level of damage and number of affected communities due to settler attacks since 2020,” it said.
Over the past week alone, 60 documented attacks involved direct assaults on Palestinian civilians, resulting in at least 17 injuries and damage to 19 vehicles, OCHA added.
According to the official Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, 259 attacks on Palestinians were carried out by the occupation forces and illegal settlers during the olive harvest season.
Since October 2023, settlers have launched over 7,000 attacks on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank, according to Palestinian sources. The surge in violence, which intensified following the genocidal war on Gaza, has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians and injured over 10,000.
