International West Bank thread
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As oppose to Sunni Muslims ?
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I'm tired of those terrorists. I'm tired of the Israeli government supporting them and the international community ignoring them. Any Palestinian that get his house stolen and grandmother kicked has a right to resist
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Settlers torch West Bank mosque, scrawl hateful messages after IDF leaders’ reproach
Deir Istiya village targeted amid rising settler violence that has displaced thousands; graffiti threatens revenge after rare condemnation from military generals
Palestinians inspect a mosque in Deir Istiya after it was set on fire by Israeli settlers, according to local residents. Graffiti left by settlers reads "We will take revenge again" and "We are not afraid of Avi Bluth," a reference to the IDF Central Command chief, November 13, 2025.
Israeli settlers torched and defaced a mosque in a Palestinian village in the central West Bank overnight Wednesday, villagers said, scribbling hateful messages in a show of defiance a day after some Israeli leaders condemned a different attack by settlers against Palestinians.
One wall and at least three copies of the Quran and some of the carpeting at the mosque in the Palestinian town of Deir Istiya had been torched when an AP reporter visited on Thursday.
On one side of the mosque, the assailants had left graffitied messages of defiance like “We are not afraid of Avi Bluth,” “We will take revenge again,” and “Keep on condemning.” The Hebrew scrawl, difficult to make out, appeared to reference IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, who issued a rare denunciation of the violence on Wednesday, as did other army leaders.
Soldiers from the IDF, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, were present at the scene.
It was the latest in a string of attacks that have provoked expressions of concern from top officials, military leaders and US President Donald Trump’s administration.
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Speaking at a press conference Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was “some concern about events in the West Bank spilling over and creating an effect that could undermine what we’re doing in Gaza.”
Palestinians inspect a mosque in Deir Istiya after it was set on fire by Israeli settlers, according to local residents, November 13, 2025. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)Israeli officials have sought to cast settler violence as the work of a few extremists. But Palestinians and rights groups say the violence is widespread and carried out by settlers across the territory, with impunity from Israel’s far-right government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu has not commented on the surge in violence.
Officials issue rare denunciations
The round of recent denunciations was in reaction to a particularly brazen attack Tuesday that saw dozens of masked Israeli settlers set fire to vehicles and other property in the Palestinian villages of Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf.The army said the settlers then fled to a nearby industrial zone and attacked soldiers responding to the violence, damaging a military vehicle. Four Israelis were arrested, three of whom have already been released, and four Palestinians were wounded, authorities said.
President Isaac Herzog described the attacks as “shocking and serious.”
Herzog’s position, while largely ceremonial, is meant to serve as a moral compass and unifying force for the country.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (right) speaks with Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth during a military drill in the West Bank, November 12, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)Herzog said the violence committed by a “handful” of perpetrators “crosses a red line,” adding in a social media post that “all state authorities must act decisively to eradicate the phenomenon and to strengthen the IDF fighters and security forces who protect us day and night.”
The Israeli army’s Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir echoed Herzog’s condemnations of the West Bank violence, saying the military “will not tolerate phenomena of a criminal minority that stains a law-abiding public.”
He said the army is committed to stopping violent acts committed by settlers, which he described as contrary to Israeli values, and that they “divert the attention of our forces from fulfilling their mission defending the communities, and conducting offensive operations.”
On Wednesday, police said three of the suspects were released. The fourth suspect, a minor arrested on suspicion of arson and assault, will remain in custody for six more days, as ordered by a judge. Police said the actions of the three who were released are still under investigation, “with the goal of bringing offenders to justice, regardless of their background.”
Jewish settlers attack Palestinians during the olive-picking season in the village of Beita, south of Nablus in the West Bank, November 8, 2025. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)Not a new phenomenon
Settler violence has been steadily mounting for decades, and the mosque in Deir Istiya had previously come under attack by settlers.Settlers vandalized the mosque in 2012, according to the US State Department, and again in 2014, according to a roundup of settler violence from the website of the Anti-Defamation League.
The violence had reached peak highs before the war in Gaza erupted two years ago, and since then, it’s only gotten worse. October was the month with the highest-ever number of recorded settler attacks in the West Bank since the UN’s humanitarian office began keeping track in 2006, said the office.
Palestinians say the goal of the violence is to push them off their lands. The UN’s humanitarian office said 3,535 Palestinians have been displaced by settler violence or access restrictions since 2023, a major upswing from previous years.
Emboldened by Netanyahu’s right-wing government, settlers have expanded beyond the bounds of pre-existing settlements to establish new farming outposts, which they call “young settlements.”
Illustrative: Israeli border guards argue with Israeli settlers attempting to disrupt the olive harvest at a grove near the Palestinian village of Silwad, northeast of Ramallah in the West Bank, on October 29, 2025. (Zain JAAFAR / AFP)The outposts — usually little more than a few sheds and a pen for livestock — now spill down settlement hilltops toward Palestinian villages, with some settlers gaining control of the villages’ agricultural land and water sources.
Palestinians and human rights workers accuse the Israeli army and police of failing to halt attacks by settlers. The government is dominated by far-right proponents of the settler movement, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who formulates settlement policy, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police force.
About 94% of all investigation files opened by the Israel Police into settler violence from 2005 to 2024 ended without indictment, according to monitoring by Israeli human rights group Yesh Din. Since 2005, just 3% of the investigation files opened into settler violence have led to full or partial convictions.
Settlers torch West Bank mosque, scrawl hateful messages after IDF leaders’ reproach
Deir Istiya village targeted amid rising settler violence that has displaced thousands; graffiti threatens revenge after rare condemnation from military generals
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So if you're a father with his family in the West Bank, terrorist illegal settlers can come and wreck your car and beat you up you and your wife and daughters and it's alright.
So tell me what choice do Palestinian youth have except joining the resistance ?
No one gives a fuck about them being killed, extorted from their property and beat up everyday. If you're going to die an humiliating death anyway, what choice do you have ?
So tell me what choice do Palestinian youth have except joining the resistance ?
No one gives a fuck about them being killed, extorted from their property and beat up everyday. If you're going to die an humiliating death anyway, what choice do you have ?
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Oh wow yeah then I guess it’s a good thing they’ve been preemptively beating old women and stealing their homes for the past 30 years. Finally, vindication
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In the West Bank, children are the target of Israeli soldiers
ambulance that took him to the nearest hospital. Minutes after the fatal shot, dozens of soldiers swarmed the street and he was held for an hour and a half. When Iyad arrived, doctors in Tulkarem decided to transfer Saddam by ambulance to a clinic in Nablus with an intensive care unit. According to the father, Israeli soldiers demanded that medical staff lift the child's body to check that nothing was hidden underneath, despite the danger to his health. "The paramedic had to negotiate for 22 minutes to convince them this could kill him instantly," he said. "I counted."Fearing someone might be hiding in the vehicle, the soldiers forced him to leave the hospital with the doors and windows open, in the middle of winter. The Israeli army press office declined to comment. Two days later, on January 30, a group of soldiers thoroughly searched the studio where Saddam had lived, then left without a word, according to the father. Eight days later, the Palestinian child died of his injuries.
A month after the tragedy, the Tulkarem resident received a message from the Israeli military police, summoning him to an army base at the Al-Jalama checkpoint, right next to the boundary line with Israel. This former police officer with the Palestinian Authority found himself in a room facing two uniformed female soldiers and a plainclothes officer, accompanied by a translator.
The questions centered on hypothetical stone-throwing that, according to the interrogators, might explain the sniper's fatal shot. In response, the father presented the surveillance camera video showing his son's death. "At the end, one of the soldiers stormed out, screaming in anger," he said. When contacted about this meeting, the army did not respond. The military leadership assured Rajab that an investigation was underway, but he received no official documents or telephone number to follow up on the case. "And the Israelis call that the rule of law," he said.
Rachid Jazar lives in Sebastia, a village near Nablus known for its ancient ruins, highly coveted by surrounding illegal settlements. Surrounded by five of his seven other children, the 58-year-old former house painter struggled with his words, sighing and offering a faint smile. Beside him, his wife Wafa, looking dazed, showed the garment their son was wearing the day he died, pierced by a bullet. On January 19, his son Ahmad, 14, was killed by an Israeli soldier positioned several hundred meters away, during a military operation in Sebastia. The wall of the building in front of which the teenager was standing still bears the mark of the fatal shot.
In the West Bank, children are the target of Israeli soldiers
According to the United Nations, since January, Israeli troops have killed 44 minors in the Palestinian territory. None of those responsible have faced prosecution or disciplinary action. Most of the time, the army does not even bother to open an investigation.
www.lemonde.fr
