Settler violence

Israeli soldiers prevent witnesses from helping Sheikh Saeed Rabaa after he was shot in the leg, in Al-Rakeez, April 17, 2025. (Aidan Frere-Smith)

A settler shot a Palestinian father in the leg. Soldiers arrived to detain his son

After the attack in the West Bank village of Al-Rakeez, Sheikh Saeed Rabaa was forced to undergo amputation, as his son Ilyas remained in Ofer Prison.

By Basel Adra April 22, 2025

Hamdan Ballal (center) and Basel Adra (left) speak to the media following Ballal's release from Israeli detention, Susiya, occupied West Bank, March 25, 2025. (Oren Ziv)

‘I felt they wanted to kill me’: Hamdan Ballal recounts settler-soldier assault

The Palestinian filmmaker describes being brutally beaten in front of his home in Susiya before experiencing further abuse in Israeli military detention.

By Oren Ziv March 26, 2025

Community members in Khirbet Samra loading their flock into trucks before their departure on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Dikla Taylor-Sheinman)

Israeli settler violence is rapidly emptying Jordan Valley of Palestinians

Khirbet Samra is one of the last Palestinian shepherding communities in the West Bank’s eastern flank. State-backed settler militias are driving them out.

By Dikla Taylor-Sheinman and Georgia Gee March 19, 2025

Latest

Israeli army forces demolish Palestinian homes and property in She'ab al-Bottom in Masafer Yatta, in the West Bank, July 8, 2024. (Basel Adra/Activestills)

Our film is going to the Oscars. But here in Masafer Yatta, we’re still being erased

As the world watches ‘No Other Land,’ Israeli settlers are raiding and burning our villages while soldiers arrest us, abuse us, and demolish our homes.

By Basel Adra February 10, 2025

Israeli forces prevent the residents of the Palestinian village of Az-Zuweidin from grazing on their private pastures and arrest three Palestinians, southern West Bank, May 4, 2024. (Omri Eran Vardi/Activestills)

In the West Bank, Palestinian unemployment is now Israeli policy

After October 7, Israel revoked the work permits of more than 150,000 Palestinians. On top of spiraling settler attacks, my village faces financial ruin.

By Haitham S. January 21, 2025

Palestinians and solidarity activists harvest olives in Duma, in the north of the occupied West Bank, on the first day of the olive harvest, October 10, 2024. (Avishay Mohar/Activestills)

‘I lost my wife and my land’: A deadly olive harvest season ends in the West Bank

Restrictions and attacks by the Israeli military, together with rampant settler violence, left many Palestinians unable to harvest this year's crop.

By Imad Abu Hawash December 12, 2024

The ruins of a building destroyed by settlers in the displaced Palestinian village of Khalet Khader, occupied West Bank. (Oren Ziv)

The West Bank villages wiped off the map by Israeli settler violence

Since October 7, over 50 rural Palestinian communities have been forced to abandon their homes amid intensifying attacks, threats, and harassment by Israeli settlers — almost always with the backing of the army and police.

By Oren Ziv December 4, 2024

Palestinian students pass an Israeli military jeep on their way home from school in the village of At-Tuwani, Masafer Yatta, occupied West Bank, September 28, 2022. (Oren Ziv)

In Masafer Yatta, our very right to education is under fire

Amid Israeli settler attacks, military raids, roadblocks, and an economic crisis, simply getting to school can be a challenge. But still we fight for our students.

By Mahmoud Al-Omour November 7, 2024

Palestinian residents, joined by Israelis and internationals, hold a weekly protest in Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem, March 24, 2023. (Heather Sharona Weiss/Activestills)

Conversing as unequals: Jewish-Palestinian partnership at a crossroads

Awni Al-Mashni and I have spent years meeting with Israelis and Palestinians across the land to discuss visions for the future. Do we still have answers?

By Meron Rapoport October 23, 2024

The bed of 13-year-old Bana Laboum, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers in her room in the village of Qaryut, occupied West Bank, September 15, 2024. (Oren Ziv)

Settlers attacked Bana’s village. Then a soldier shot her through her window

After Israeli settlers assaulted Palestinians with rocks and Molotov cocktails, soldiers raided Qaryut and killed a 13-year-old as she stood in her bedroom.

By Oren Ziv September 23, 2024

Palestinians return to the village of Zanuta following an Israeli High Court ruling, after settler violence forced residents out in the first weeks following October 7, Masafer Yatta, West Bank, August 21, 2024. (Oren Ziv)

After expulsion by settlers, Palestinians embrace precarious return to Zanuta

As residents trickled back into the destroyed West Bank village following a court ruling, fear of further attacks was outweighed by the joy of being home.

By Hamdan Ballal Al-Huraini September 9, 2024

Israeli settlers, including one wearing a Hashomer Yosh T-shirt, block a main road around the Palestinian city of Nablus, occupied West Bank, April 10, 2022. (Oren Ziv)

What is Hashomer Yosh, the latest settler group hit with U.S. sanctions?

The government-backed organization, which brings volunteers to Israeli farming outposts, is a major driver of violent land theft in the West Bank.

By Georgia Gee August 30, 2024

Mourners at the funeral of Khalil Salem Ziadeh in Wadi Rahal, August 27, 2024. (Oren Ziv)

‘If you try to defend yourself, you’re dead’: A West Bank village’s night of terror

Palestinians in Wadi Rahal were left to pick up the pieces after settler-soldiers from a nearby outpost stormed the village and killed one resident.

By Oren Ziv August 29, 2024