Palestine calls for urgent sanctions on Israeli occupiers after attacks on West Bank villages

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called Monday for urgent international sanctions on Israeli occupiers and the settlement system following attacks on two villages south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.

In a statement, the ministry condemned the “terrorist attacks by settlers” in the villages of Al-Lubban al-Sharqiya and Qusra earlier in the day.​​​​​​​

Dozens of Israeli occupiers attacked the two villages before dawn, setting fire to homes and vehicles and injuring 10 Palestinians, according to Anadolu’s correspondents.

The ministry said the burning of homes and vehicles constituted “organized and repeated crimes directed by the occupation state” aimed at imposing a coercive environment to drive Palestinians from their land through organized terror.

It said the attacks serve Israeli settlement expansion and ethnic cleansing plans, accusing Israeli authorities of providing protection and facilitation to the armed occupier groups behind the assaults.

The ministry called for urgent international action “beyond condemnation,” including clear and binding sanctions on the settlement system and the designation of occupier militias on international terrorism lists.

It also called for activating international accountability mechanisms and prosecuting those responsible, warning that the absence of practical measures would provide cover for further attacks and undermine the prospects for peace.

According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, Israeli occupiers carried out 4,723 attacks across the occupied West Bank in 2025, killing 14 Palestinians and displacing 13 Bedouin communities comprising 1,090 people.

Israel has intensified operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since launching a military campaign in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 8, 2023. Palestinians view the escalation, including killings, arrests, displacement and settlement expansion, as a step toward the formal annexation of the territory.

In a landmark opinion in July 2024, 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.

*Writing by Tarek Chouiref