Global concerns are mounting over the threat of ethnic cleansing in Palestine as violence continues to escalate in Gaza and the occupied West Bank at the hands of terrorist settler militias, who are supported and actively championed by the occupation army.
The European Union (EU), UK and various humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations (UN), are calling on other world leaders to pull ranks and unify against the rise in crimes being committed, not only by the Israeli occupation, but by Israeli settlers which, since the start of March, have led to the deaths of at least eight Palestinians in Deir Abu Falah, Qaryut, and Yatta.
Officials, such as the Palestinian Cabinet, say there is a real risk that the systematic unleashing of settler terrorism while the world is distracted by conflict between Israel and Iran and tensions elsewhere in the wider Middle East, could escalate into acts of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian population.
Reading between the lines, they have identified that this escalating anarchy isn’t just the result of opportunistic and vigilante settler groups, but a calculated move on Israel’s part to up the ante during a time of unrest and volatility across the Iranian and Levantine corridors. It’s the latest weapon in Israel’s arsenal – rolled out and facilitated at a time when the world is looking the other way.
This is particularly alarming, given the lack of international law enforcement, justice and global accountability so far.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least seven Palestinian citizens are violently attacked every day by settlers accompanied by Israeli military or police. It’s also well documented that at least one Palestinian child in the West Bank is killed every two days by an Israeli settler or soldier. This figure looks set to rise as the violence escalates.
In a single day (Saturday, 14 March), Israeli settlers raided the Palestinian village of Kisan, east of Bethlehem, shooting and physically assaulting residents and stealing 100 sheep; fired live ammunition towards young men and homes in town of Qusra, south of Nablus; stormed the entrance to the nearby village of Burin, carrying out intimidating house inspections, while Israeli forces shot and severely assaulted a number of civilians.
The week prior, a group of 100 masked Israeli settlers descended on the town of Abu Falah in a bid to displace Palestinian residents. According to Middle East Eye, the attackers shot and killed two while wounding several others. In the days that followed, settlers attacked Hamza al-Fouqa residents in the Jordan Valley, stole 300 cattle and carved out a new thoroughfare to carry out further settlement activity in Ramallah.
Locals report that settler attacks in the West Bank have increased significantly in recent years, with assaults, demolitions, theft and arson attacks on farmland and homes and other property becoming increasingly common. Residents of Qusra and Burin villages say they are often carried out by armed settlers under the protection of Israeli forces.
Director of Al-Bidar human rights organisation Hassan Mleihat says attacks have increased by 25 percent since the war began, with assaults reported in several areas simultaneously.
And there is, of course, no ceasefire. Despite the announcement on 10 October 2025. the Israeli army continues to target tents sheltering displaced civilians along the Gaza Strip. The death toll since then has reached almost 650 – nearly half of whom were women, children and the elderly.
Gaza’s total number of martyrs stands at 72,234, with a further 171,852 Palestinians injured since the start of the aggression in October 2023.
The surge in settler violence, hidden behind the headlines of war on Iran (and propelled by un-condemned statements by Israeli politicians) fuel the long-term imperialist objective of the zionists – which is to expand into a greater Israel, where the so-called sovereignty of nearby nations, such as Lebanon, are violated and the prospect of a Palestinian state, even if side by side with the colonial occupying zionist state of Israel is blatantly disregarded.
Benjamin Netanyahu has long exposed his approval of the elimination of the indigenous Palestinians, famously saying: “There will be no Palestinian state. This place belongs to us.”
The question remains: when Israel’s crimes are so clear to see, why don’t Keir Starmer and the EU world leaders sanction this zionist state under international criminal law instead of continuing to pay lip service?
What you can do: Continue to put pressure on local and national government; write to your MP and prime minister; keep talking and sharing about Palestine. Settler attacks continue to escalate in Gaza and the West Bank with the support of the Israeli occupation. Urge your government to intensify its efforts and activate programmes designed to support and strengthen the resilience of the Palestinian people – especially in key target areas and rural areas which are more at risk of attack by Israeli occupation forces and settler gangs.
Despite conflict between Israel and Iran and tensions elsewhere in the Levant and wider Middle East diverting attention away from what is happening in Gaza and the diaspora, Palestine continues to live under siege.
Sources:
State of Palestine Prime Minister’s Office
THE PALESTINE OBSERVER 
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