A new wave of violence in the West Bank amid Gaza ceasefire

Hugh Lovatt: So, we have an Israeli settler population that has long sought to persecute Palestinians and displace them and attack them. You have a settler population that was itself attacked in Al-Funduq. And then you have this anger with regards to the ceasefire in Gaza. And so, this very much has now blown up in the West Bank. And so, we’ve seen almost every night Israeli settler attacks against Palestinian villages, especially Palestinians in this town of Al-Funduq, as part revenge against that community, and also making a clear statement to the Israeli government and everyone else about that the settlers are very much here and are determined to continue to annex and settle Palestinian land.

So, when it comes to the relationship between Israel and the West Bank, it is an ideological relationship. So, many in Israel will see the West Bank in the framework that’s through a Biblical lens. So, they will refer to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria and talk about Jewish claims to what they see as the Jewish homeland. There is also a military lens through which Israel sees the West Bank. Israel has been occupying the West Bank since 1967. And again, this is all also about politics and the role of the growing and increasingly powerful Israeli settler movement within Israeli politics, within the Israeli government, in a way that is increasingly dictating Israeli policies.

International law is very clear. The West Bank is Palestinian territory. It is occupied. And Israel is building settlements illegally. And international law also, according to the International Court of Justice, which recently ruled on Israel’s presence in the West Bank, [which] said Israel’s presence is illegal and Israel must bring to an end its occupation as soon as possible. Of course, Israel refutes and rejects that ruling. Israel will firstly claim its Biblical rights to the territory. It will also argue very incorrectly that the Oslo Accords trump international law and give them the right to remain there.

Palestinian communities in the West Bank have been heavily affected by the Israeli settlements. Firstly, in terms of being displaced, evicted from their lands and their homes, but also in terms of security. So, people often talk about the security issues facing Israeli settlers. Less talked about the security issues faced by Palestinian communities because of those settlers. And we have over the past year seen increasing settler violence, increasing settler radicalization and increasing insecurity for Palestinian communities in proximity to these settler communities.

I think it’s important when we talk about Israeli settlers, that we also understand the relationship between the settlers and the state of Israel. Often, I would say most of the time, actually, when Israeli settlers attack Palestinians, they are doing so with the protection and acquiescence of Israeli security forces who will stand by, who will not intervene when these settlers are attacking Palestinians.

As soon as Palestinians push back or fight back and do such as throwing stones, then the Israeli military forces who are present will then intervene and attack the Palestinians alongside the settlers. But this symbiotic relationship between the state of Israel and the settlers extends in a way that’s much broader than that.

So, it’s about the sense of impunity that this has given to the Israeli settlers. They are infrequently arrested and even less frequently prosecuted. But the Israeli state is also sponsoring the Israeli settler movement, supporting it politically and financially and economically. So, yes, Israeli settlers is a problem, but it is only one aspect. It is also of Israeli policy. It’s very much an embodiment of Israeli policy.

I’m not sure I would say this is an inflection point, but rather it’s a milestone in terms of the continued deterioration of the West Bank security and political scene. In my view, because the factors on the ground are so longstanding, they will continue to drive this deterioration. And when speaking to US officials, say, there’s long been kind of a question mark about when will we see this big explosion in the West Bank? And the explosion never quite seems to come despite these moments of very localized violence.

I think the better way to look at it is that the West Bank is slowly deteriorating. Every day is a little bit worse than the other day. It can make it more difficult to capture in terms of the totality of the systemic collapse that we’re seeing. It may take longer to play out. It may be less visible. But I think the ultimate end of this trajectory will be the same, which is likely a complete collapse on the Palestinian side in terms of the collapse of the Palestine Authority, explosions of violence and something that becomes even more serious than it is today.