Surge in Violence: Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinian Lands Amidst Rising Tensions

Wed Nov 12 2025 15:57:01 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Recent arson attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian assets have highlighted escalating violence in the West Bank, coinciding with reports of record settler aggression during the olive harvest season.

Dozens of Israeli settlers perpetrated arson attacks on a Palestinian warehouse and agricultural lands in the occupied West Bank, injuring several Palestinians and marking a significant surge in violence. This wave of attacks coincides with the olive harvest season, reported by the UN as witnessing the highest levels of settler violence since data collection began. The Israeli Defense Forces responded by dispersing confrontations and arresting several individuals. Calls for accountability from Palestinian leaders and international observers reflect increasing concerns over settler impunity and the local security situation.

Dozens of Israeli settlers launched arson attacks targeting a Palestinian warehouse, a Bedouin village, and farmland in the north of the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.

Several Palestinians were injured.

The incidents were the latest in a recent surge in settler violence coinciding with the olive harvest season, when Palestinians head to their agricultural land around towns and villages.

It comes just after the UN's humanitarian office said the number of violent attacks by settlers last month was the highest since it began collecting figures nearly 20 years ago.

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem - land Palestinians want, along with Gaza, for a hoped-for future state - during the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them.

The settlements are illegal under international law.

Footage from Tuesday shows dozens of masked men on a hillside east of Tulkarm. A Palestinian warehouse in Beit Lid was attacked, with lorries set on fire.

Tents can be seen ablaze in the Bedouin village of Deir Sharaf, with the sound of women shouting in the background.

Palestinian Authority Minister Muayyad Shaaban, the head of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, said the attacks were part of a campaign to impose 'a hostile environment through intimidation and terror'.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that troops went to the scene 'to disperse the confrontation using riot dispersal means and apprehended several Israeli civilians'. It added that soldiers were then attacked by settlers gathering nearby and their vehicle was damaged.

Israeli police stated that four suspects were arrested.

In a post on X, Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the latest events 'shocking and serious', blaming 'a handful of violent and dangerous individuals'.

The head of the IDF Central Command, Major-General Avi Bluth, also condemned the attacks, saying that such incidents 'undermine the stability of the security situation'.

The large-scale attack on Tuesday was a rare instance of Israeli law enforcement acting to counter settler violence, which has increased dramatically since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023 triggered the Gaza war.

The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports more than 260 Israeli settler attacks in October, resulting in casualties and significant property damage. These figures reflect the most violent period during the olive harvest season in years.

Additionally, Palestinians and human rights groups have frequently accused the IDF of protecting or aiding extremist settlers.

As tensions rise, calls for accountability and the prevention of further violence are becoming increasingly urgent.