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License for violence: unchecked settlers bring unprecedented hardships for Palestinians

The last few years have seen a steady, alarming escalation of violence in the Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem. Violent attacks by Israeli settlers multiplied along with the number of settlements and settlement outposts, often taking advantage of the protection (or the active support) offered to settlers by the Israeli police. Israeli forces are themselves often responsible of acts of violence or an arbitrary utilisation of the power of force, sometimes justifying it in the context of operations targeting Palestinian armed groups or the response to attacks. So far As Israeli settlements grow throughout the West Bank, incidents involving settlers are at an all-time high. With Israeli forces failing to prevent violence and sometimes enabling it, Palestinians are more exposed to brutality than ever. In areas of heavy settler presence, stories of altercations are ubiquitous, with every family knowing at least one person harassed, attacked, or arrested in connection with a settler encounter.

This dual settler and military presence in turn creates incidents, often violent, in which Palestinians invariably lose, with consequences ranging from property damage to death, including impact on mental health. The increase in settlements in the West Bank caused this so-called settler violence to steadily increase in recent years. The number of incidents this year looks set to break that record. The number of incidents reached 1,049 attacks by settlers against Palestinians from January to September 2022.

During our work providing medical and mental health services in the West bank, we see a huge incidence of settlers attacking people in these areas.

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