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Last week, amid a combined speech by US President Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I displayed a sign urging the acknowledgment of Palestine. We were violently removed from the parliamentary session, exposing the fragile state of what's frequently portrayed as the "sole democracy in the Middle East". How can officials speak about regional peace while refusing to recognize a population deprived of fundamental freedoms and rights under decades-long occupation?

The Situation in the West Bank

In no place is the deceit more evident than in the occupied West Bank. There, talk of reconciliation sound remote and faint, while the frightening sounds of colonist attacks and intimidation continue strongly. More than 30 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinian civilians have been documented since the announcement of the Trump administration's peace proposal in late September, including physical assaults, stealing of agricultural produce, and torching of cars and belongings.

Systematic Aggression During Agricultural Period

The rise in violence by colonists is deliberate. This period marks the start of agricultural harvesting. More than a vital economic activity, it constitutes an significant social and cultural occasion that demonstrates endurance under military rule. Precisely for these reasons, year after year settlers attack Palestinian farmers during this crucial period. During the 2024 harvest season, human rights organizations documented 113 distinct cases of aggression, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or destruction to olive groves and crops by settlers and soldiers, which occurred on territories owned by 51 Palestinian villages, municipalities, and areas.

Israeli security forces appeared to have played a larger role in obstructing the olive harvest

Yesh Din also found that "Israeli military appeared to have had a larger part in obstructing the olive harvest". In approximately 70% of cases where access to farmland was violently blocked, troops, border police officers, and settler security officials were physically on site. They either directly stopped Palestinian farmers from accessing and gathering their property, or failed to stop colonists who harassed or attacked them.

Political Backing for Colonization

This comes as no shock, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra minister in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for example, a particular military coordination team removed private olive trees of local residents, claiming missing documentation, but ignored infractions by an unauthorized adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the Jerusalem district court decided to halt all construction in the outpost, which was constructed on property taken by Israel and unlawfully given to colonists.

Annexation Ambitions and International Reaction

In the occupied West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a instrument used by the government to achieve de-facto annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich headed a procession of thousands of colonists in favor of taking over the West Bank. He was quoted as saying, "We are continuing to take hold with our feet of the Land of Israel with numerous pioneers, numerous heroes, and countless of colonists who live in this area of the land ... we need to normalize it and make it eternal."

The settlers and their backers in the Knesset are clear about their intentions and goals. Why, then, do political leaders in the Western nations refrain from meaningful sanctions and political actions? Smotrich was penalized by the United Kingdom in June, but the impact of the sanction has been limited. He may not be able to go to the UK and visit the London's entertainment district, but he still enjoys the governmental authority to take lands in the West Bank. Remarkably in the announcement of penalties, the British government emphasized they apply "in his personal capacity" solely.

International Acknowledgment and Reality

If the UK government recognizes the reality of settler violence and its grave consequences on Palestinian life, why does it still permit goods from settlements to be marketed in markets and shops in Britain? If the British leader is serious about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a sovereign entity, how come he permit the Israeli administration to violate its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an empty tactic to silence opposition in the United Kingdom, a meaningless act only to be realised in the rebranding of some maps?

Route Toward Genuine Peace

A just peace must respect the basic rights of the Palestinian people for self-determination, sovereignty, and freedom from occupation and blockade. Only when every human being's dignity between the river and Mediterranean Sea is respected can we truly say reconciliation has been attained.

True peace requires an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel: this is the sole solution that enjoises consensus among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace camp.

The former US president may have applied influence on Netanyahu to halt the violence, but he likely only did so because the burden of his connection with the isolated government of Netanyahu had become excessive. The mass protests across the globe for the liberation of Palestine, and the persistent opposition demonstrations inside the country, are the actual forces behind this pressure.

It is thanks to this enormous civil movement that a truce has been signed, the hostages freed, and the people of Gaza can experience safeguard from annihilation. After the truce arrangement has been signed, it is vital to keep applying this influence. The world has ignored to the violence in the strip for many years; it must not repeat the same error in the occupied territories.