Mapping Israeli settler violence in the West Bank

Published 27 July 2026 · india

Israeli settlers have set fire to a mosque in the West Bank village of Qusra, and continued violent attacks. Israeli settlers set fire to two

Israeli settlers have set fire to a mosque in the West Bank village of Qusra, and continued violent attacks. Israeli settlers set fire to two mosques in separate attacks in the occupied West Bank in the early hours of Sunday, causing significant damage and daubing them with racist graffiti. The mosques are Al-Rahma in Qusra, south of Nablus, and one in the village of Kour, south of Tulkarem. Israeli settlers also spray-painted the words “Jewish revenge” as the mosques were set on fire. This is the latest incident in years of violent occupation and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people by Israeli settlers and forces. Palestinian officials say at least 45 mosques were vandalised or burned by illegal settlers in the West Bank in 2025 alone. On Friday, a group of Israeli settlers who are supposed to be restricted from entering Palestinian areas entered the village of Tal (Tell), southwest of Nablus, triggering a confrontation with Palestinian residents. According to Al Jazeera Arabic, the residents forced them to retreat, but the settlers stormed back within the hour, past the Havat Gilad settlement post, sparking clashes and physical fighting between the unarmed Palestinian residents and the armed settlers. Farouk Ramadan, an unarmed resident, reportedly seized a rifle from an armed Israeli and opened fire. During the incident, four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed, while several others were wounded.

Is Israeli settler violence in the West Bank common? Data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) shows that between January 1, 2025 and June 31, 2026, there were 3,033 Israeli settler attacks. The Ramallah and el-Bireh governorate recorded the highest-ever number of settler attacks for the same time period, with 881 incidents, followed by Nablus with 660 and Hebron with 497. Since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023, violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank has steadily risen. Some 1,291 settler attacks were recorded in 2023, rising to 1,449 in 2024, 1,835 in 2025 and 761 in the first four months of 2026. That equates to an average of 190 attacks per month in 2026, up from 153 per month in 2025 – a 24 percent increase in the monthly rate. Every West Bank governorate has faced settler attacks over the past year. Who are Israeli settlers? Settlers are Israeli citizens living in illegal, Jewish-only communities, known as Israeli settlements, built on Palestinian-owned land that Israel occupied in 1967. Benjamin Netanyahu – Israel’s longest-serving prime minister – has bolstered settlement expansions since he first came to power in 1996, undermining the 1993 Oslo Accords, which called for the freezing of settlements and a mutually negotiated two-state solution. Earlier this year, for example, the Israeli government approved a plan to begin land registration in the occupied West Bank, meaning it will be able to seize land from Palestinians who cannot prove ownership.