In partnership with The Shaikh Group (TSG), ICSPR issues a fact sheet titled “Between Incitement and Negligence: Settler Attacks in the West Bank During 2026”
Date: 19 June 2026
Press Release
In partnership with The Shaikh Group (TSG) and as part of the Youth Civil Society Activists Diploma Program
ICSPR issues a fact sheet titled: “Between Incitement and Negligence: Settler Attacks in the West Bank During 2026”
The International Commission to Support Palestinian People’s Rights (ICSPR), in partnership with The Shaikh Group (TSG) and as part of the Youth Civil Society Activists Diploma Program, has issued a fact sheet prepared by Anwar Naji titled: “Between Incitement and Negligence: Settler Attacks in the West Bank During 2026,” examining settlement realities and the escalation of settler attacks in the West Bank, particularly in the south of Nablus governorate, through field statistics framed within international law, while highlighting the role of political incitement and law-enforcement failure in fuelling violence.
The paper explains that recent years, especially 2026, have witnessed a continuous escalation in violations and crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces and settlers in the West Bank, with Nablus governorate, and specifically its southern areas, among the most targeted due to its strategic location linking the northern and southern West Bank and its position on main routes between Nazareth and Jenin in the north and Hebron in the south, and between Jaffa in the west and Jericho in the east. This location has made Nablus a direct target for Israeli expansionist policies aimed at undermining Palestinian presence and consolidating control over the land.
According to the fact sheet, settler and army attacks in southern Nablus have been characterized by systematic violence, including the approval of plans for new settlements and the establishment of unofficial outposts later retroactively “legalized”. Violations have also included physical assaults on civilians, killing, theft and killing of livestock and animals, arson and confiscation of property, and organized attacks by armed settler groups, all amid clear negligence and complicity on the part of the authorities responsible for enforcing the law.
The paper cites figures showing that since the beginning of 2026, more than 45 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank in attacks linked to systematic violence by Israeli forces and settlers, and more than 19,000 violations and attacks have been recorded, including killings, assaults, and property and land seizures across the West Bank. It also documents more than 1,112 settler attacks targeting villages, farms, and Palestinian property, carried out under direct protection from the occupation forces.
The fact sheet notes that Nablus governorate alone has seen the killing of around 11 Palestinians and the injury of at least 10 others due to army and settler violence, along with the destruction of approximately 27 structures since the start of 2026, and estimates some 70 settlements and outposts in the governorate, in addition to about 14 Israeli military sites covering roughly 1,049 dunums of land.
At the level of the entire West Bank, the paper states that the number of Israeli settlements had reached around 180 by 2026, that the occupation authorities have taken over about 122 farms and turned them into settlement farms, and that at least 69 settlement neighborhoods and 72 new outposts have been established. Settlers have also uprooted more than 15,000 olive trees in areas such as Turmusaya, Qusra, Wadi Qana, and the Shajara area east of Duma during the first half of the year, while more than 600 people have been forced to leave their homes due to repeated attacks.
The paper points to official political incitement as a key driver of settler violence, noting that racist rhetoric has intensified since 2023, in parallel with the war of genocide on Gaza and continuing into 2026, with documented rallies where settlers chanted slogans such as “Death to Arabs” in the presence and under the protection of prominent Israeli figures. It further notes that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has approved the expansion and issuance of more than 240,000 gun licenses for settlers and called for the formation of semi-military “emergency squads” (Kitat Konenut) that operate under army protection and exercise violence against Palestinians.
In contrast, the fact sheet highlights systematic negligence by law-enforcement bodies, indicating that around 94% of investigations into settler attacks have been closed without indictments and that no more than 3% of cases since 2005 have ended in full or partial convictions. Many files are closed on grounds of “unknown perpetrators” or “lack of evidence,” despite the availability of testimonies and video documentation, which deepens Palestinians’ mistrust in the effectiveness of resorting to the Israeli police.
Legally, the paper underscores that all Israeli settlements built in the occupied Palestinian territory since 1967 are illegal under international law and that arming settlers and escalating violence violate the Fourth Geneva Convention and UN resolutions, particularly Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016), which affirms the illegality of settlements and calls for their immediate cessation. It further notes that the transfer of the occupier’s population into occupied territory and the destruction and seizure of property constitute war crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the 1907 Hague Regulations.
The fact sheet concludes that escalating settler attacks, within a political and security environment that provides protection and entrenches impunity, reflect a serious deterioration in the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, exacerbate humanitarian conditions, and threaten Palestinians’ fundamental rights. It stresses that the international community’s failure to take effective measures to hold Israel accountable has allowed it to continue its settlement policies and unlawful practices without deterrence.
In light of this, ICSPR’s paper calls for an immediate end to ongoing Israeli attacks, including settlement expansion and settler violence, and for those responsible for these crimes to be brought before competent international courts to ensure accountability and prevent impunity. It also urges the international community to move beyond verbal condemnation toward practical, binding measures to enforce respect for international law, provide urgent international protection for Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory, and systematically document all settlement-related violations for use in international legal forums.
ICSPR affirms that this fact sheet is part of its joint efforts with The Shaikh Group (TSG) within the Youth Civil Society Activists Diploma Program to highlight the grave risks posed by the escalation of settler attacks in the West Bank and to strengthen legal and advocacy pathways aimed at ending impunity and ensuring accountability.
