By Adam Lucente

The Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem says hundreds of Palestinians have fled their homes due to settler violence, and the United States is pressuring Israel on the issue.

A child checks a car reportedly damaged by Jewish settlers during the night in the village of Mughayir, east of Ramallah in the West Bank, on July 23, 2023. - ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images

Hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank have been driven from their homes by Israeli settlers since the Israel-Hamas war began, according to a leading Israeli human rights organization. B’Tselem spokesperson Dror Sadot said that the violence has spiked since Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7 as Israel is preoccupied with the war in Gaza. “The scale and intensity of the attacks have escalated,” Sadot told Al-Monitor. “What we’re seeing is the settlers are basically targeting community after community, attacking multiple times … under the cover of the Gaza war.”As of Sunday, a total of 963 Palestinians have left their homes in the West Bank due to attacks, threats and restrictions by Israeli settlers since the war began Oct. 7. That number over four weeks is nearly double those who fled the West Bank in the 21 months prior. According to B’Tselem’s data, around 480 Palestinians left their West Bank homes from January 2022 until October 2023. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, a territory that now houses large number of Israeli settlements and outposts that are considered illegal under international law. 

The attacks are occurring as fighting in Gaza intensifies, drawing the attention of Israel and the international community. More than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza since the war began, mostly civilians. Approximately 1,200 people in Israel were killed by Hamas during its Oct. 7 assault on Israel, also mainly civilians, while dozens of Israeli soldiers have died in the ensuing operations in and around Gaza.

The settler attacks are mostly occurring in Area C, a section of the West Bank directly administered by Israel. Palestinian authorities say that at least 185 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the war began, largely in Israeli military raids. Before Oct. 7, the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, aka OCHA, reported 199 Palestinian fatalities in the West Bank in 2023. 

The Israel Defense Forces have escalated security raids against armed groups in the West Bank, including Hamas, concurrent with the war in Gaza. “The general violence is escalating. It’s not only the settlers, it’s also the army. Israel’s control of the civilian population is being tightened,” said Dror, adding that there are more checkpoints and limitations on movement as well since Oct. 7.The situation is particularly restrictive in Hebron, where the IDF has imposed a curfew on 11 neighborhoods since Oct. 7, according to B’Tselem. 

Hebron, the site of the Cave of the Patriarchs and the Ibrahimi Mosque, is a frequent flashpoint between Israeli settlers and Palestinians. According to B’Tselem, the settler attacks are not separate from Israeli government policy. “Israel and the settlers want the same thing and aim for the same goal: to Judaize Area C,” said Dror. "Israel is basically granting the settlers immunity. Nobody is being held accountable. So it’s kind of an unofficial arm of the state.”Israel’s current ruling coalition includes ardent Jewish nationalist parties that are supportive of the settler movement. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich both live in West Bank settlements. “The people who are the violent settlers are sitting in the government and the settlers know that,” added Dror.

At times, West Bank Palestinians are unsure whether it's settlers or Israeli soldiers attacking. Dror said some Palestinians report being attacked by people who are known to be settlers but are in army uniforms.

Israeli authorities have distributed guns to settlers since Oct. 7 for security. Settlers are sometimes attacked by armed Palestinians as well, including before the war. In April, two British-Israeli women were killed in a shooting attack in the West Bank. 

Israeli, Palestinian and international news outlets have reported on the settler attacks. Haaretz published a lengthy report last month detailing how Israeli settlers as well as soldiers allegedly detained and tortured three Palestinians in Wadi as-Seeq, east of Ramallah, on Oct. 12. An IDF spokesperson told the outlet that the commanding officer of the area has been dismissed and that the military police opened an investigation into the incident. 

On Oct. 28, an Israeli settler shot and killed a Palestinian man who was harvesting olives in Al-Sawiya, near Nablus, Haaretz reported, citing Palestinian health and Israeli military officials. A Palestinian woman in Khirbet Zanuta told CNN on Nov. 3 that settlers assault residents during the night in an effort to drive them from their homes. 

The Palestinian Authority’s WAFA news agency regularly reports Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians. On Sunday, WAFA reported that settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles on the Ramallah-Nablus road. On Monday, the outlet reported that settlers attacked a Palestinian home and fruit-bearing trees in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron. 

The attacks have elicited condemnation, including from US President Joe Biden. “They have to be held accountable. It has to stop now,” said Biden at a press conference on Oct. 25. Biden referred to the perpetrators as “extremist settlers,” the Associated Press reported at the time. 

During a trip to Israel on Nov. 3, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had received a “clear commitment” from the Israeli government on dealing with the violence. 

The Washington Post reported on Friday that Biden and his aides have raised the issue numerous times in calls with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu issued a rare condemnation of the violence from settlers on Thursday. Following a meeting with the Yesha Council, an umbrella organization of settlement municipal councils, Netanyahu said, “I condemn this, and we will act against it.” Israeli news outlets described his comments as a gesture toward the United States.