Settler violence

Through 2025, and even more so since the beginning of 2026, violent attacks carried out by Israeli civilians, most of whom are residents of settlements and outposts, against Palestinians and Palestinian property in the West Bank (settler violence) have grown in number and severity. From early 2026 until mid-May, the UN documented over 800 violent settler attacks that resulted in injuries or property damage in more than 220 Palestinian communities. Settler violence is backed by the State and carried out as part of its policy of annexation and Palestinian dispossession.

The war with Iran between late February and early April 2026, brought another spike in the number of attacks and the resulting injuries. According to Yesh Din data (Hebrew), based on cross-referencing publications and reports from various sources, 378 incidents of settler violence were reported in 148 Palestinian communities during the 40 days of war, an average of 10 incidents per day. Settlers shot and killed eight Palestinians during this time and injured about 200. The acts of violence do not spare women, children, or the elderly.

Settler violence has also continued to surge after the war with Iran, with dozens of settler attacks on Palestinians documented each week. Despite recent condemnations by the Prime Minister, the Chief of Staff and the GOC Central Command, the situation shows no signs of changing.

As in the past, many settler attacks originate in outposts established near the targeted Palestinian communities and villages. Settlers use staged violent provocations, home invasions, and persistent harassment to terrorize these communities and erode their sense of security to the point of forcing them out, clearing the way for the ultimate goal of seizing their land. In almost all instances, Israeli forces do not protect Palestinians during these acts of violence and intimidation and often assist the perpetrators. Palestinian residents, human rights organizations, and protective presence activists consistently document repeated appeals to the police, which receive no immediate response, if any.

Access restrictions imposed by the military, framed as measures to protect targeted communities, often create conditions conducive to violence by keeping human rights activists and the press out. They also delay ambulances, risking the exacerbation of injuries and endangering lives. Meanwhile, Palestinian medical crews themselves are at risk of settler attacks, as is evident from interviews conducted by Physicians for Human Rights Israel with paramedics, medics, and volunteers operating in the South Nablus area.

Further reading:

Yesh Din, About 10 incidents of settler violence occurred daily in each of the 40 days of the war with Iran. Every day, April 15, 2026

B’Tselem, Under cover of the war with Iran: Settler militias are increasing their lethal shooting of Palestinians as part of the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, March 9, 2026

MachsomWatch, Jordan Valley: Israeli activists blocked on their way to the blocked shepherd communities, March 9, 2026

Settler violence – figures and trends

According to statistics published by B’Tselem, settlers shot and killed nine Palestinians in 2025. In four other incidents resulting in fatalities, it was not clear whether the victims were killed by settlers or soldiers. Since then, from January to early May 2026 alone, the UN has reported 13 Palestinians killed by settler gunfire.

The number of injuries, already extremely high in 2025, has soared since the beginning of 2026. According to UN figures, by May 3, 2026, settlers had injured 473 Palestinians since the start of the year, compared with 181 in the same period in 2025, an increase of 160%. In 2025, a total of 832 Palestinians were injured by settlers. Among the injured were dozens of women, elderly people, and children. Settlers use various means to attack or threaten Palestinians, including firearms, knives, clubs and sticks, stones, zip-ties, and dogs.

Between January and March 2026, the UN documented 545 settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in bodily harm or property damage, compared with 355 such attacks between January and March 2025, an increase of 53%. These figures exclude incidents of harassment, including verbal abuse, maintaining a menacing presence, and invasions of homes and private spaces, which occur daily. While these may not end in physical harm to people or property, they spread fear and anxiety among communities and farmers and disrupt daily life, sometimes to the point of driving people from their homes and lands.

A roughly 25% year-over-year increase in settler attacks was recorded in 2025: According to UN data, the number of settler attacks against Palestinians resulting in bodily harm or property damage reported in 2025 was 1,835, compared to 1,449 reported in 2024. Israeli defense establishment figures reported in January 2026 also indicate a 25% increase in ideologically motivated crime against Palestinians between 2024 and 2025, though the number of incidents reported is lower than the UN’s. The Israeli military has also identified an increase in the number of settler attacks directed at security forces.

Settlers continue to sabotage the regular water supply (Hebrew) of Palestinian communities with tens of thousands of households. For example, throughout 2026 settlers have continued damaging infrastructure that supplies water to more than 100,000 Palestinian residents in villages in the Ramallah area. Other prominent features of settler violence include attacking Palestinian farmers working their land, attacking medical teams and ambulances dispatched to treat the wounded, uprooting or destroying thousands of olive trees and saplings, torching buildings and vehicles, stealing sheep and goat flocks that many of the targeted communities depend on for their livelihood, abusing and killing animals, breaking into homes and maintaining a menacing presence near women and children, and threatening rape and murder.

As the number of attacks increases, the level of planning and cruelty also appears to be on the rise, as reflected in the casualty figures and reports by Palestinians and activists. For example, on the night between March 12 and 13, 2026, dozens of masked Israelis attacked the Khirbet Humsa community in the northern Jordan Valley. The assailants beat and bound men and women, including protective presence activists who were staying with the community, sexually assaulted one of the men in front of his family, destroyed and looted property and food, stole hundreds of sheep and goats, and threatened that if the community remained at the site, they would abduct and rape the girls and kill the children. Community members and activists testified that it took the military about an hour to arrive at the scene, while police arrived two and a half hours later. The livestock, upon which the families’ livelihoods depend, has still not been returned as of this writing. The Israel Police said it arrested seven suspects on suspicion of assault, armed robbery, violence, and indecent acts. The detainees are reportedly residents of various settlements, as well as of Jerusalem and Ra’anana.

Meanwhile, activists report that tensions run so high in targeted communities that in some cases the arrival of settlers or the removal of protective presence activists is enough to scare residents away or stop them from going about their daily lives. Likewise, trespassing by settlers into homes and tents, and their physical proximity to women and children as a result, also triggers intense fear and may lead to displacement.

For further reading and updates:

B’Tselem, Settler violence = State violence, updates

Proliferation of firearms and military equipment as a violence multiplier

After the October 7, 2023 attacks and the war that broke out in its wake, regional defense forces in the West Bank were reinforced. Ostensibly tasked with protecting Jews living in the West Bank, these are reserve battalions stationed in the West Bank and made up mostly of settlers living in it. As part of this reinforcement, the military distributed thousands of firearms. Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Security also instituted a liberal firearm policy for civilians. Both of these measures contributed to an increase in the number of cases of threats and violence against Palestinians in general, and the use of firearms in particular. Although many of the settlers recruited into regional defense units are no longer on active reserve duty, most of the firearms and military equipment distributed remains in their possession, and it is being used in attacks on Palestinians.

In many cases, armed settlers, sometimes in full or partial military uniform, have been documented shooting or physically assaulting Palestinians, as well as trespassing on Palestinian property and causing property damage. It is difficult to discern in such cases who the attackers are and what powers they have, if any. Some are soldiers in active service, some are soldiers on leave, and others are non-serving civilians who have military firearms and equipment distributed to the regional defense forces. As an example, in early March 2026, a settler in military uniform shot and killed two Palestinian brothers during a settler attack on the Palestinian village of Qaryut. According to a B’Tselem investigation, the shooter arrived at the scene with the attackers, and not with the military force that was called to the scene later.

Activist organizations, including Torat Tzedek, say some of the off-road vehicles settlers use for attacks and harassment still have stickers indicating they were given to outposts by the Ministry for Settlement and National Missions.

Research by Yesh Din indicates that when complaints are filed, law enforcement authorities tend to avoid taking responsibility. The Military Advocate General’s Corps will claim that it has no jurisdiction if no official military action was taking place. The Israel Police may refuse to investigate, claiming that it cannot because uniformed military personnel were involved. This creates an enforcement vacuum that allows the violence to continue without accountability and contributes to the general sense of immunity among the settlers.

An examination of the situation leads to the grave conclusion that, in essence, Israel consistently, and as a matter of policy, enables the deliberate blurring of lines between settlers and military forces, thus promoting violence against Palestinians in the service of settlement interests.

Further reading:

Yesh Din, Settlers in Uniform: Violence Against Palestinians by Israelis in Military Uniforms

Impunity for offenders and incitement on social media

There is a direct link between the Israeli government’s land-grab policies in the West Bank and the rise in settler violence. The violence complements government action, or sets the stage for it, without Israel having to explicitly declare its policy or bear responsibility for the violent forcible transfer of Palestinian communities. In practice, settlers and Israeli citizens who join them in exercising systematic, ideologically motivated violence against Palestinians can be seen as spearheading the implementation of Israel’s annexation policy.

As violence against Palestinians proliferates, assaults are publicly flaunted, and incitement to violence is spread without any fear of law enforcement. In messages posted on WhatsApp and Telegram groups associated with far-right activists living in outposts, perpetrators openly brag about physical assaults, arson, and property destruction in Palestinian villages, sometimes while using their actual names. For example, Hadshot Anash (Ally News), a WhatsApp group described as a group for “news and reports on the struggle against the Arab enemy,” has over 750 members. The group posts monthly summaries detailing dozens of attacks on Palestinian villages, the number of Palestinians injured, the number of vehicles and homes torched, the thousands of olive trees cut down, and the extensive property damage. On March 22, 2026, calls for “revenge and expulsion of the enemy” were posted on far-right social media groups, after Yehuda Sherman, a teen, was killed when a Palestinian vehicle struck his ATV. Subsequently, dozens of violent assaults, arsons, and riots by Israeli civilians were documented in Palestinian areas.

Yesh Din monitoring of 1,750 investigations into suspected offenses by Israeli civilians against Palestinians in the West Bank, conducted from 2005 to October 2025, yielded the following data: Roughly 93% of the 1,685 concluded investigations were closed without an indictment, and only 6.7% ended in indictments. Just 57 cases, or 3%, resulted in a full or partial conviction. This ongoing, systemic failure to address Jewish ideologically motivated violence against Palestinians normalizes and effectively endorses such acts.

Human rights NGO Haqel helped residents of several Palestinian villages in the South Hebron Hills document hundreds of incidents of violence, most of them in 2025. They included physical assault, arson, tree cutting, break-ins, and trespassing on private land to graze livestock. Despite the complaints filed and the State’s acknowledgment in petitions that it was aware of many of the incidents, there were no indictments in any of the cases.

It is therefore little wonder that most Palestinian victims choose not to file a complaint at all. From early 2023 to October 31, 2025, Yesh Din documented 513 incidents of harm to Palestinians by Israeli civilians. In 299 of them, 58.3%, the victims chose not to file a complaint. Other factors contribute as well. Many of the police stations that are supposed to process complaints by Palestinian victims are located inside Israeli settlements. To access them, Palestinians must be escorted by a police officer from the settlement gate to the station. In practice, complainants sometimes wait for hours at the settlement gate in vain; even when they are allowed in, there are often no Arabic-speaking police officers available at the station to take the complaint. Many Palestinians fear that lodging a complaint against an Israeli civilian may lead to further harm to them or their family members. And, ultimately, their lived experience demonstrates that the odds of a complaint leading to a proper investigation in which the offenders are brought to justice and the harassment ends, are slim.

Further reading:

Yesh Din: Data Sheet: Law Enforcement on Israeli Civilians in the West Bank (Settler violence) 2005-2025

Attacks on human rights activists and restrictions on protective presence activities

In the past, protective presence by Israeli and other human rights activists has had a moderating impact and helped stave off settler violence. In recent months, however, threats and violence by settlers against activists have increased and intensified. This has included physical violence resulting in injuries and hospitalizations; the use of physical restraints; abuse; vandalism; torching vehicles; and the theft of personal effects such as phones, wallets, and passports.

HRDF reports that between November 2025 and March 2026, its hotline received a record 196 reports of settler attacks against human rights activists and protective presence volunteers. The pattern that emerges from the analysis of these and previous cases includes assault, lack of protection by security forces and at times even soldiers’ involvement, followed by an ineffective investigation and the closing of the criminal file without an indictment. This occurs even when there is extensive, clear visual documentation of the assault, sometimes even when the attacker’s identity is known, and even in cases in which the victim suffers a serious injury requiring hospitalization and a lengthy recovery period. Investigation files are closed without justification, sometimes without even interviewing the victim, and without any notice of the closure given to complainants.

Even in cases when HRDF appeals the closure of investigation files with the State Attorney’s Office Appeals Department, the department’s foot-dragging renders the appeals meaningless. This was the case, for example, in the investigation of the assault on activist Dr. Hagar Gefen. Dr. Gefen, a 70-year-old woman, was viciously assaulted in October 2022 during the olive harvest in the village of Kisan and required prolonged hospital care due to rib fractures and a punctured lung. In January 2024, after repeated inquiries, it emerged that the investigation into her assault had been closed, but the date and grounds for the closure were not disclosed. After the authorities stalled the transfer of the investigation material, an appeal was filed against the closure, and when no response came, legal action was taken. In its judgment, delivered in March 2026, the Court ordered that a resubmitted appeal would be reviewed within three months. In her opinion, Justice Barak-Erez described the authorities’ mishandling of the complaint as harmful to society at large.

Despite the scathing criticism, no change has been observed in the conduct of law enforcement and prosecution authorities.