Traces of a previous attack carried out by settlers in the West Bank town of Huwara (European)
Afrasianet - Israeli violations in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem continue at an accelerated pace, as settler militias, under the protection of the Executive Forces, continue to storm the courtyard of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, while imposing severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinians and tightening the economic and field siege on villages and cities.
Walid al-Omari, director of Al Jazeera's office in Palestine, said in an interview on Al Jazeera TV that what is happening on the ground represents a continuation of a strategy that escalated in intensity following the events of October 7, 2023, pointing out that the occupation has practically passed the stage of apartheid to reach the stage of ethnic cleansing. This assessment intersects with warnings issued by former officials in the Israeli security and political system.
Former Israeli Defense Minister and Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon made remarkable statements in 2024, in which he stated that what the Israeli occupation army is carrying out in the Gaza Strip is "ethnic cleansing and war crimes," stressing that his statements are based on what he is told by field officers in the army.
Al-Omari explained that the Israeli plan relies on employing settler militias as a field arm of the military system to spread intimidation and forced evictions, with the aim of displacing Palestinians or creating impossible living conditions that force them to leave.
This move aims to reshape the geographical map of the West Bank by imposing full control over Area C and expanding into large parts of Area B, which will turn the Palestinian areas into dismembered enclaves and prisons with a total area of no more than 7% of the total area of the West Bank.
Al-Omari added that this escalation on the ground also represents a trump card in the internal electoral competition between the wings of the Israeli right to ensure the stabilization of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (who is wanted by the International Tribunal), with this war extending to the economic aspect by drying up financial resources and seizing tax revenues stipulated under the Paris Economic Protocol, in order to erase any residual impact of the Oslo Accords.
The Paris Financial Agreements have defined the relationship between the Palestinian Authority and Israel since 1994, under which Israel collects taxes and fees on behalf of the PA and then transfers them to the PA after deducting its dues.
This system enables Israel to delay or deduct funds that directly affect the PA's budget, and limits its flexibility in planning development projects, even if aid increases or investments flow from abroad.
Al-Omari pointed out that Israel does not give weight to European decisions and positions against settlements and immediately confronts them with accusations of anti-Semitism, in light of its full reliance on partnership and political and diplomatic cover from Washington.
Europe's support strengthens Palestinians
However, these international positions and European resolutions against the settlements gain their importance for the Palestinian people because they provide a moral dose for their daily steadfastness in the face of the Israeli occupation's incursion and its continuous blockade, although they do not constitute a real deterrent to the Israeli system, which is only concerned with the position and cover coming from Washington.
A year ago, the British government, under Keir Starmer, made a decision to recognize the state of Palestine — which includes Gaza , East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank — alongside Israel.
France, Canada, Australia and other countries have followed Britain's lead, and today the State of Palestine is recognized by three-quarters of the 193 member states of the United Nations.
On the other side of the political spectrum, Israel's internal electoral rivalry is between two right-wing currents, one of Mustafa behind Benjamin Netanyahu and one against him, as the two sides compete to show a higher degree of oppression and repression of the Palestinians in order to break their will and attract settler votes.
Al-Omari pointed out that this track is fully and directly supported by the US administration, as the statements of US Ambassador Mike Huckabee reflect the depth of absolute support and providing an umbrella of protection for the plans in force in the West Bank, which makes Washington a full partner in the displacement and undermining of the necessities of life that the Palestinians are facing.
According to data from the Committee to Resist the Wall and Settlements (government), 76 Palestinians in various parts of the West Bank, the city of Jerusalem, and inside the Green Line have been martyred by settlers' bullets and attacks since 2023, 64 of them after October 7 of the same year until last September, whether during attacks on villages and towns or in mass attacks, and the cases were more concentrated in West Bank cities, where since the beginning of 2026, 28 Palestinians have been killed by settlers.
Israeli Human Rights Center Condemns "Ethnic Cleansing" in the West Bank
In this context, the Israeli human rights center B'Tselem said that Israel has killed 1,003 Palestinians since October 2023 in the West Bank, accusing it of practicing "ethnic cleansing" in the West Bank with the absence of an effective internal and external mechanism to prevent it.
In a statement on Monday, the center said that settlers attack Palestinians daily in the West Bank with complete impunity, and confirmed that no Israeli convictions have been issued in 21 cases in which Palestinian settlers have been killed, and said that Israeli law enforcement authorities rarely open an investigation despite documenting most of the settlers' attacks.
The center pointed out that the Israeli army has armed and recruited thousands of settlers in West Bank settlements, and has been pursuing a lenient and unrestricted firing policy in the West Bank since October 2023.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates considered that the attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank come as part of a systematic policy of terrorizing citizens and forcibly displacing them.
In a statement on Saturday, the ministry held the Israeli government "fully and directly responsible" for the settlers' crimes, stressing that "the extremist policies of the Israeli government encourage settlers to commit more crimes, and fuel violence and organized terrorism against our people in Palestinian cities, villages and camps."
The Foreign Ministry called on the UN Security Council to "assume its responsibilities and work to form an international protection and peacekeeping force to protect the Palestinian people throughout the occupied Palestinian territory."
It urged the international community to "take immediate and binding measures to stop the attacks, provide international protection to our people through legal and diplomatic means, and hold the perpetrators of these heinous crimes accountable in accordance with the rules of international law."
The West Bank is witnessing an escalation in settler attacks, ranging from burning houses and vehicles to attacks on farmers, amid protection from the Israeli army.
In addition to the deaths of hundreds, attacks by the army and settlers in the West Bank two years ago led to the injury of about 11,000 Palestinians, and more than 20,000 were arrested during the same period, according to the Palestinian Commission for Resistance to the Wall and Settlements.
Israeli Researcher: Israeli Universities Are a Key Actor in the Regime's Crimes
Academic boycott of Israeli universities widens due to war on Gaza
For her part, Israeli researcher Maya Wind shows the profound role played by Israeli universities in consolidating the Zionist colonial project and in supporting the apartheid regime against the Palestinians, which supports the position of supporters of the academic boycott.
Why does Palestine need a strong second wave of global solidarity?
It seems that the need for the continuation of the global solidarity movement with Gaza and Palestine, and its entry into a second wave of the movement, is no less important and urgent than the first wave.
Premeditated crime
The settler did not only fire one bullet that hit the foot of the child Karim Sanad Shalaldeh (17 years old), but he followed it with others that penetrated his body, knocking him down as a martyr, while other citizens who were at the scene were injured.
On Friday, August 21, dozens of settlers stormed Khirbet Hamroush in the town of Sa'ir in the Hebron district in the southern West Bank, and roamed its houses to launch their attacks coinciding with the time of Friday prayers, taking advantage of the absence of men in the mosques to perform them, so they opened fire, wounded an elderly man and killed the young man, Shalaldeh.
Surprise during prayer
Scenes showing the martyrdom of the young man Karim Shalaldeh for the first time, obtained by Al Jazeera Net, after dozens of settlers stormed Khirbet Hamroush, where they advanced through the main street and between the houses accompanied by vehicles, carrying batons and hard tools, alongside an armed settler wearing a military uniform.
Sanad Shalaldeh, the father of the martyr Karim, says that more than 50 settlers stormed the village coinciding with the Friday prayers, thinking that a large number of men and young men would not be in the place, as the settlers spread between the houses and the sheep pens, then set fire to 3 warehouses belonging to his brother, and attacked a sheep pen, while armed settlers spread out at the entrance to the village.
He added to Al Jazeera Net that a settler wearing a military uniform positioned himself at the entrance to the neighborhood and opened fire towards the residents, and a 70-year-old man was wounded by live bullets. As the shooting continued, his son Karim was first wounded in the foot, but he remained bleeding in his position, before suffering another injury in the chest and heart area a few minutes later, as a result of which he was killed.
Karim was holding his phone and documenting the attack moment by moment, filming the settlers' advance inside their neighborhood, shooting and attacks on property. He continued to film until moments close to his injury, so that the scenes he recorded became part of the narrative of the attack that ended with his martyrdom.
Geographical distribution of martyrs by settlers during their attacks (Al-Jazeera)
Martyrs of Ramallah and Al-Bireh
The data of the Commission for Resistance to the Wall and Settlements shows a map that includes the most prominent features of the martyrs' toll, and their geographical distribution, while stopping at some attacks that witnessed the martyrdom of more than one victim in one incident. The martyrs are concentrated in three governorates, where out of 76 martyrs, Ramallah, Al-Bireh , Nablus, and Hebron recorded 65 cases, or about 86% of the total martyrs.
Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorate topped the distribution with 32 martyrs since 2023, including 14 since the beginning of 2026, to be the governorate with the most recorded martyrs killed by settlers.
The village of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, is one of the most frequent areas of attacks, with 7 Palestinians killed. Aws Hamdan al-Na'san, 14, was the youngest martyr, who was martyred after an attack by settlers on the village in April 2026, during an attack on the vicinity of the village school, which also resulted in the death of Jihad Marzouq Abu Naim, 32.
On September 2, 19-year-old Omar al-Na'san and 16-year-old Khalil Abu Alia were shot dead by settlers, according to the head of the village council of al-Mughayyir, Amin Abu Alia.
Testimonies from the village indicate that attacks are increasing as they surround a number of settlements and outposts, including Shilo, Adi Ad and Kochav Hashahar, in addition to many other outposts, as the seizure of land and the use of its surroundings as launching points for attacks on residents.
Nablus Martyrs
Nablus ranks second with 24 martyrs since 2023, including 7 since early 2026, and in many cases, more than one victim is killed during a single attack. In Qaryut, south of the city, brothers Muhammad and Fahim Taha Muammar (52 and 47) were killed during a settler attack on the outskirts of the village on March 2, 2026.
In the town of Qusra near Qaryut, 8 people have been killed since 2023, including Ibrahim Ahmed Wadi, 62, and his son Ahmed, 25, on October 12, 2023, following a settler attack near the village. Amir Odeh, 28, was also killed during another attack last March.
In the village of Tal, west of Nablus, four Palestinians from the same family were killed during a settler attack on July 24, 2026: Ibrahim Hussein Ali Ramadan, 32, his brother Jawad, 27, Farouk Adnan Ramadan, 41, and his cousin Omran, 37.
These facts are consistent with what the Commission has documented regarding the transition of settler attacks from individual to collective attacks targeting population gatherings, which may lead to the death of several martyrs in a single incident.
Hebron Martyrs
Hebron governorate has recorded 9 cases of martyrdom since 2023, the latest of which was the child Karim Shalaldeh in Khirbet Hamroush, northeast of Sa'ir.
Salfit, Qalqilya and the outskirts of Jerusalem each recorded 3 cases each, while Bethlehem documented one case, and another occurred in the town of Muqaiblah within the Green Line.
In Qalqilya, 20-year-old Omar Muhammad Tubasi was martyred on September 6, 2026, during a settler attack on the village of Hajjah, east of the city. According to testimonies from his family, Omar went out with young men from the village to support residents after the area was attacked and shot, before he was shot and died. Medical sources reported that a number of Palestinians were injured during the attack.
What does the map reveal?
The deaths reveal a recurring pattern of attacks on towns and villages, as well as incidents in which more than one Palestinian was killed during a single attack, including members of the same family. These cases come in the context of a well-documented escalation of settler attacks in the West Bank.
The Committee to Resist the Wall and Settlements says in a statement that from October 7, 2023, to June 30, 2026, during the 1,000 days of the war of extermination on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation army and settlers carried out a total of 56,235 attacks on Palestinian lands, property, and lives.
According to the Commission's data, the number of settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank reached 592, while Israel controls about 42% of the West Bank, which is estimated at 5,660 square kilometers. The Commission stated that the number of settlers in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, reached about 780,000 as of the end of last July.
It explained that of these, 333,600 are in Jerusalem settlements and 446,400 are in the rest of the West Bank. The Commission pointed out that the settlers are distributed over 192 settlements, in addition to 400 settlement outposts, including 231 pastoral outposts.
According to a previous report published by Al Jazeera.net, Israel's Ministry of National Security announced in March 2026 that more than 240,000 Israelis, including about 70,000 settlers, had obtained gun licenses since the start of what it called "reform" following the recent war on Gaza.
According to data from the Committee to Resist the Wall and Settlements (government), 76 Palestinians in various parts of the West Bank, the city of Jerusalem, and inside the Green Line have been martyred by settlers' bullets and attacks since 2023, 64 of them after October 7 of the same year until last September, whether during attacks on villages and towns or in mass attacks, and the cases were more concentrated in West Bank cities, where since the beginning of 2026 28 Palestinians have been killed by settlers.
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Source: Al Jazeera
