Settler Violence = State Violence

In recent years — and especially since 7 October 2023 — there has been a sharp increase in both the number and severity of settler attacks against Palestinians. The incidents reported on this blog do not reflect all incidents of settler violence in the West Bank, but only those that B’Tselem was able to document and investigate.

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Displaying 861-880 of 2015 updates. An update can cover more than one incident.

Incident type

Area

District

Locality

Dates

From date

To date

Israeli forces present

During the olive harvest

Communities forcibly transferred or facing forced transfer

July 2023

25 July 2023 Silat a-Dhahr Incidents: 1

Silat a-Dhahr, Jenin District: Israeli settlers smash windows and destroy property in a Palestinian house under construction
25 July 2023 Wadi Qana Incidents: 1

Wadi Qana, Salfit District: Armed Israeli settlers steal five sheep belonging to Palestinians
24 July 2023 Burin Incidents: 1

Burin, Nablus District: Israeli settlers torch 24 50-year-old olive trees belonging to Palestinians
24 July 2023 Burin Incidents: 1

Burin, Nablus District: Israeli settlers burn Palestinian orchard with 60 olive trees
24 July 2023 Sabastiya Incidents: 1

Sabastiya, Nablus District: Israeli settlers cut down about 20 olive trees and vandalize barbed wire fence
22 July 2023 al-Mazra'ah al-Qibliyah Incidents: 1

Al-Mazra’ah al-Qibliyah, Ramallah District: Israeli settlers attack a Palestinian home with stones. Soldiers fire rubber coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters at defending village residents, causing a fire
22 July 2023 al-Mughayir (Ramallah) Incidents: 1

Al-Mughayir, Ramallah District: Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian family’s car and spray slogans on the fence of the family home
21 July 2023 Khallet Makhul Incidents: 1

Khallet Makhul, Jordan Valley: Israeli settler rams ATV into sheep belonging to Palestinians, injuring some
20 July 2023 Yizhar Incidents: 1

Route 60 (Yitzhar Junction), Nablus District: Israeli settlers throw stones at moving Palestinian car, smashing rear window and damaging body
20 July 2023 a-Dhahiriyah Incidents: 1

a-Dhahiriyah, Hebron District: Israeli settlers uproot and cut down about 120 trees
19 July 2023 Kh. a-Deir (Tubas) Incidents: 1

Khirbet a-Deir, Jordan Valley: Israeli settlers destroy generator powering water pump used to irrigate crops belonging to Palestinians
16 July 2023 Burin Incidents: 1

Burin, Nablus District: Israeli settlers set fire to trees and attack a house and residents with stones
16 July 2023 Qusrah Incidents: 1

Qusrah, Nablus District: Israeli settlers throw stones at moving Palestinian car, damaging its body
16 July 2023 Widady a-Tahta Incidents: 1

Widady a-Tahta (South Zanutah), South Hebron Hills: Another Palestinian community forcibly transferred
15 July 2023 Burqah (Nablus) Incidents: 1

Burqah, Nablus District: Israeli settlers steal and vandalize barbed wire fence and irrigation pipes
15 July 2023 Ni'lin Incidents: 2

Ni’lin, Ramallah District: Israeli settlers uproot about 200 tree saplings and dump rocks and dirt in water cistern belonging to Palestinians
15 July 2023 Badu al-Mu’arrajat east (Mleihat) Incidents: 1

Al-Mu’arrajat Community (Mleihat), Jericho District: Israeli settlers walk around tent encampment, filming community residents
13 July 2023 al-Mazra'ah al-Qibliyah Incidents: 1

Al-Mazra’ah al-Qibliyah, Ramallah District: Israeli settlers vandalize two water tanks and a ping pong table and steal a water pump in Khirbet Na’alan woods near the village
12 July 2023 'Ein al-Beida Incidents: 1

Khirbet a-Sakut ('Ein al-Beida), Jordan Valley: Israeli settlers attack Palestinian hikers with stones and clubs, injuring several of them
10 July 2023 al-Baqa'a (al-Quds) Incidents: 1

Al-Baq’ah, Ramallah District: Aided by pogroms, another Palestinian community is forcibly transferred

Videos

All videos

Settler Violence = State Violence

Stealing the poor man’s lamb: As part of efforts to take over land in the West Bank, settlers steal sheep and goat flocks, often with assistance from the military, severely harming herders’ livelihoods

17 August 2026

Settler Violence = State Violence

Joint violence by the military and settler militias is a central component of Israel’s ethnic cleansing policy in the West Bank

11 June 2026

מתנחלים מכים באלות את מוחמד אבו סבחה השרוע על הקרקע. מתוך תיעוד במצלמות אבטחה באדיבות התושבים

Settler Violence = State Violence

South Hebron Hills, January 2026: Increased Israeli effort to complete ethnic cleansing of Area C

18 May 2026

East Jerusalem

For the first time since 1967, Israel is expelling an entire Palestinian neighborhood in Jerusalem

5 May 2026

Settler Violence = State Violence

A settler in military uniform shot and killed two Palestinian brothers as part of a settler attack on the village of Qaryut, Nablus District

1 April 2026

Settler Violence = State Violence

Khallet a-Sidrah, al-Quds District: Shepherding community facing immediate expulsion

25 January 2026

Settler Violence = State Violence

Israeli settlers engage in animal brutality as part of ongoing assault on Palestinian communities

6 January 2026

Settler Violence = State Violence

Wadi Ejheish, South Hebron Hills: Settlers attacked a home and tried to break in, smashed windows, pepper-sprayed six family members including a baby, slaughtered sheep and vandalized a car

9 November 2025

Settler violence log

Armed settler beats 13-year-old in olive grove in Tel Rumeidah, central Hebron, then flees into a military post

29 August 2022

Islam-Tamimi after being assaulted. Photo courtesy of the family

On Monday, 29 August 2022, at around 2:30 P.M., Islam a-Tamimi (13) was walking home in the neighborhood of Tel Rumeidah, in the city center of Hebron. As he was making his way through an olive grove, he came across a settler who was about 18 years old and armed with a handgun. He phoned his father, Sharif a-Tamimi, at which point the settler ran over to him, punched him in the face, slapped him twice and then ran towards a nearby military post. Sharif a-Tamimi, who heard his son crying over the phone, ran to the spot along with Islam’s grandmother. Soldiers, apparently sent by the settler, also arrived and began shouting at Isalm’s relatives who were gathering there. When the soldiers noticed Islam was bleeding, one of them gave him first aid. The soldiers told the family they had not seen the assault on the security cameras and the settler had fled from the post. They said they would arrest him if he returned. The family called the police, and after Islam told the officers what happened, they suggested the family go to the police station to file a complaint.

The next morning, Sharif a-Tamimi went to the police station in the settlement of Kiryat Arba with his son. They were kept waiting outside for about four hours before being let into the station to file the complaint. The investigator who took it did not speak Arabic, and it is unclear how much of what they were saying he understood.

The assault on Islam a-Tamimi is not an isolated incident. It is one of many acts of settler violence B’Tselem has documented in Hebron.

A soldier giving Islam a-Tamimi first aid. Photo courtesy of the family

B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari took the testimonies of Islam and Sharif a-Tamimi on 5 September 2022:

Testimony of Islam a-Tamimi:

On Monday, 29 August 2022, at around 2:30 P.M., I was on my way home after visiting a friend in the Bab a-Zawiya area. I was walking through the olive groves, because it’s cooler under the trees. Suddenly, I saw a settler I know from the area, who’s about 18 years old. He was about 100 meters away from me. He came towards me holding a gun. I was afraid he was going to attack me and called my dad to tell him what was going on. While I was on the phone with him, the settler came closer and punched me hard in the nose, and then slapped me hard on the face several times. I felt dizzy and my nose started to bleed. The settler ran towards a military base and called out to the soldiers.

In the meantime, my father and grandmother came, probably because my dad heard me screaming on the phone when I was attacked. Right after that, soldiers suddenly showed up. I don’t know how many. They ran towards us with their weapons drawn, looking angry. The settler must have told them we attacked him. My dad put his hands up and tried to calm the soldiers down. He explained to them that the settler had attacked me. The soldiers saw me bleeding and then they understood I’d been attacked.

My father called the Israeli police and asked for officers to come. In the meantime, one of the soldiers gave me first aid to stop the bleeding from my nose and wiped the blood off my face. My uncles and some other relatives arrived. At the same time, two Israeli police officers in blue uniforms and three other people in civilian clothing, who introduced themselves as police officers, showed up. One of the officers asked my dad what happened, and he asked me to tell them. I said the settler attacked me before running to the military base.

Islam’s father, Sharif a-Tamimi (44), a married father of three, said:

When I got there with my mother, I saw the settler running towards a military base, shouting. Islam was sitting on the ground crying, and his nose was bleeding. I saw several soldiers running towards us, yelling and waving their weapons. I put my hands up and shouted that the settler had attacked my son. The soldiers stopped yelling and one of them went over to Islam, wiped the blood off his face and tried to stop the bleeding. In the meantime, some of our relatives gathered there.

I called the Israeli police. About 15 minutes later, five people showed up, two of them in police uniforms. They asked me about what happened, so I asked Islam to tell them. A police officer took Islam’s statement hastily, and told me to go to the police station to file a complaint. I asked him to check the cameras and get the footage of my son’s assault. The officers ignored me and left the area. Then the soldiers left too. Islam was feeling dizzy and I took him home.

The next morning, at around 9:00 A.M., we went to the police station to file a complaint. I talked to an officer through the intercom. He told me to wait outside. We waited outside for about four hours. It was very hot. In the end, an officer who doesn’t speak Arabic led us into an interrogation room. He took Islam’s statement and wrote it down in Hebrew, even though Islam and I don’t know Hebrew. He knew only a handful of words in Arabic, and I barely understood him. Then we went home. No one from the police has been in touch with us since then. I don’t know if the police took the assault seriously and have done anything about it.

Physical assault

Settler Violence = State Violence

July 2023

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