Abdel Ra’ouf Arnaout and Lina Altawell
12 January 2026•Update: 12 January 2026
JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL
Violence by illegal Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank rose by about 25% in 2025, according to Israeli media.
Haaretz newspaper, citing military data, said the number and scope of attacks by illegal settlers in the West Bank have increased steadily and sharply since Oct. 7, 2023.
Data showed that illegal settlers launched 1,720 violent attacks against Palestinians since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.
In 2025 alone, illegal settlers carried out 845 nationalist-motivated attacks against Palestinians, killing four people and wounding about 200 others. The figure marks an increase of roughly 25% from 2024, when authorities recorded 675 attacks that killed six Palestinians and injured 149, Haaretz said.
About 750,000 Israeli illegal settlers live in hundreds of settlements across the West Bank, including about 250,000 in East Jerusalem. Palestinians say illegal settlers carry out near-daily attacks on residents and property in an effort to forcibly displace them.
According to Palestinian figures, Israeli forces and illegal settlers have killed at least 1,104 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, injured nearly 11,000, and detained around 21,000 since October 2023.
In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
