Settlers Attacks: State-sponsored & Army-protected Terrorism

June 26, 2023

The Planning & International Cooperation Bureau in Gaza follows with extreme concern the escalating settler attacks on our people in the occupied West Bank. In recent days, settler mobs assaulted several Palestinian villages, setting dozens of homes, vehicles, and Palestinian-owned properties on fire. Furthermore, they desecrated the Holy Quran in one of the mosques in the village of Urif, south of Nablus, in a blatant provocation to the feelings of Muslims and a heinous embodiment of hatred and animosity.

These attacks are not isolated incidents or actions by a few extremists. Rather, they are a natural reflection of the extremist right-wing policies of the occupying government and its continuous incitement against the Palestinian people. They also represent a tangible manifestation of the apartheid policy pursued by the occupying state. While the Israeli army suppresses Palestinians with utmost brutality, it provides security and protection to settlers, allowing them to attack Palestinian villages without restraint.

The Israeli government’s persistence in its settlement and racist policies will undoubtedly lead the region into an unending cycle of conflict. Given these circumstances, in the Planning & International Cooperation Bureau, we affirm that empty condemnations are not sufficient to confront the settlers’ hordes, wreaking havoc in Palestinian villages, or to persuade the extremist occupying government to abandon its racist policies. This necessitates serious action by the international community to hold the occupying government and its leaders accountable and to halt all forms of political, military, and moral support to this apartheid state.

Planning & International Cooperation Bureau

Gaza – Palestine