The West Bank:
Inexorable and Unacceptable Colonization

Nov 24, 2025

This article is translated from the November 21 issue, #2990 of Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle), the paper of the Trotskyist group of that name active in France.

Deadly violence perpetrated by far-right settlers and the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank has intensified since October. Settlers, often supported by the army, carried out at least 264 attacks during October alone. This level is unprecedented, according to a U.N. agency.

The figures speak for themselves. Since October 7, 2023, 1,006 Palestinians and 43 Israelis have been killed in the territory, both active-duty and civilians. Settler attacks rose after some heads of state hypocritically acknowledged the fact of the Palestinian problem and after the U.N. vote on Trump’s peace plan. Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinian teenagers in the southern West Bank between November 13 and 17. On the 14th, far-right settlers set fire to a mosque in Deir Istiya, in Salfit township. The army killed a 19 year old near Nablus during a raid. Settlers attacked villagers near Ramallah on the 15th. Four villagers were still missing as of November 19. On the 16th, two villages were stormed northeast of Ramallah, and dozens of Palestinians were arrested near East Jerusalem.

Somewhat out of the ordinary, on November 17, Israeli authorities evacuated a settler outpost near Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem. They used bulldozers to clear the site. They said the land was reserved for official construction. What they meant was, a new settlement. This decision seems to have emboldened far-right militants in the West Bank, who intensified their relentless harassment and attacks on Palestinian villagers.

Commandos destroying homes and crops. Deadly attacks on olive grove workers. Destruction of and denial of access to harvests. These are all aimed at depriving residents of resources. This is the daily reality that army-backed settlers inflict on more than three million Palestinians living in the West Bank. Whether they occupy outposts or officially legal settlements, including in East Jerusalem, more than 700,000 settlers now feel backed by the settlement policy pursued by all Israeli governments since 1967, both left-wing and right-wing.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently distanced himself somewhat from the most violent and extremist settler groups. But most likely this is because an election is coming, and he is also responding to opposition protests. Yet since the end of October, the settlers haven’t forgotten that the Israeli legislature voted to consider two bills aimed at extending Israeli sovereignty into the occupied West Bank.

But even as settlements keep encroaching relentlessly in the West Bank, making the existence of a contiguous territory for Palestinians increasingly impossible, Palestinians persist in demanding recognition of their rights. This is the only way forward for these two peoples who coexist between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.