"The dramatic surge in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in recent days is part of a decades-long, state-backed campaign to dispossess, displace and oppress Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, under Israel’s apartheid system,” the regional director of the NGO for the Middle East and North Africa said in a statement.

Violence by Israeli settlers has escalated in recent days after authorities found the body of a 14-year-old Israeli boy who the military said was killed by Palestinians.

According to AI, between 12 and 16 April, hundreds of settlers carried out attacks on Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank, such as Aqraba, Al Mughayyir, Beitin and Duma, among others, burning vehicles, homes and trees.

At least four Palestinians have been killed, either in the attacks or by gunfire from the army, which usually attends such incidents and often intervenes in favour of the settlers.

The organization has documented several cases, based on videos or interviews with witnesses, in which Israeli forces stood by as settlers shot at Palestinians or destroyed their property.

The United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and France have sanctioned some Israeli settlers accused of involvement in violent attacks in the West Bank, but AI said such measures are futile in the face of the continued expansion of Israeli settlements backed by the authorities.

At least 20 Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank have been forced to abandon their homes due to settler violence since 7 October 2023, when the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israeli territory, killing 1,200 people and sparking the current war in Gaza, according to data from the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (B'Tselem).

The occupied West Bank is experiencing its worst spiral of violence since the Second Intifada (2000-2005) and in the first four months of 2024 alone at least 138 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, most of them alleged militants or attackers, but also civilians, including about 30 minors, according to a count by the EFE agency.

The army stepped up its already frequent raids in the West Bank after the Hamas attack and since then more than 460 Palestinians have died in violent incidents with Israeli troops or settlers.

On Friday, the European Union imposed sanctions on four people and two organizations accused of human rights violations in the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, and the United States did the same on two entities involved in fundraising for extremist settlers already sanctioned and accused of regularly attacking Palestinians.

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