Defense officials detect rise in settler violence, including against security forces

A Palestinian man inspects burnt cars after Israeli settlers set fire to them in the Palestinian town of Burqa, near Ramallah in the West Bank in early July 2025

Yaniv Kubovich reports in Haaretz on 21 July 2025:

The data paints a clear picture: The number of violent attacks and hate crimes by settlers against Palestinians climbed in the first half of 2025 and has risen to a new height since the beginning of the war in Gaza.

From January through June, 404 such incidents were documented in the West Bank, according to the data gathered by security agencies. A steep, but consistent increase: During the first half of 2024, there were 286 incidents and in the second half of last year, 332 incidents.

But this data exposes a much broader picture, including settler violence against the Israeli security forces. Thirty-three incidents were recorded during the first six months of the year, with a total of 100 since the beginning of the war until today. This combination worries senior defense officials, and not long ago they presented the findings to political leaders.

Several of these attacks have received resounding media coverage lately, including the arson against a sensitive security facility in the West Bank at the end of June and a violent attack against an Israel Defense Forces battalion commander near Kafr Malik. The large number of incidents has led defense officials to warn of a possible loss of control over the settlers involved in the violence.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir recently convened a number of meetings on the matter. The IDF and the Shin Bet security service have identified a growing motivation of settlers living in unauthorized outposts in the West Bank, including farm outposts, to expand the conflict with the security forces.

“Whoever has ignored the increase of almost 100 new farms since October 7 should not be surprised that there is an increase in the amount of nationalist friction and crime,” a defense official told Haaretz. The source, who has commanded combat soldiers on operational duty in the West Bank in the past few months, said he has suffered from violence in the farm outposts, too.

In general, defense officials admit that IDF forces have been called on a number of times to areas where settlers have attacked Palestinians, with the attacks having ended in the killing of Palestinians – whether by the IDF’s regional security troops or the security squads from the settlements.

The Shin Bet is also worried about another figure presented in the meetings – the extent of Jewish terrorism. Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, almost 900 such incidents have been reported, and about of 160 of them were planned in advance. This figure has deepened the fear of a deterioration in the security situation in the West Bank.

The June figures alone reflect a clear message: Last month, as the reports of settler violence multiplied, security forces data shows over 100 attacks and hate crimes against Palestinians and security forces together. In June 2024, the figure was 67 incidents.

The figures presented at the meetings showed the broader picture too, according to which since the beginning of the war in Gaza, there have been 1,350 attacks and hate crimes against Palestinians and the Israeli security forces in the West Bank. During this period, about 320 Palestinians were attacked by settlers and injured, and required medical treatment – with 120 of these cases occurring in 2025.

As for the Palestinians killed, the picture is more complicated. Security officials knew of 970 killed, but the data was not analyzed regarding the identity of the victims and the cause of death. In other words, many of them were terrorists or wanted suspects who were killed by the IDF.

Most of the attacks by settlers on soldiers took place in illegal farm outposts. These outposts have been built on private Palestinian land with government support, especially from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Missions Minister Orit Strock.

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