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Settler Violence and the Emptied Villages

A settlement map shows red dots multiplying. What it does not show is how the land between the dots is cleared. That work is done by settlers, often on "farm outposts," often with soldiers standing by, and it ends with Palestinian families leaving villages their grandparents lived in. Israeli, American, and international monitors count the results in whole communities. This page explains how it works and why the government's explanation, a few "delinquents," does not fit the numbers.

The count​

  • Peace Now and Kerem Navot: 118 Palestinian shepherding communities and clusters expelled from 2023 to early 2026, with farm outposts controlling more than 1.07 million dunams, about 18 percent of the West Bank; in the first two months of 2026 another nine communities and families were expelled, among them Ras Ein al-Auja, about 1,000 residents, citing B'Tselem (Peace Now; PDF).
  • B'Tselem, the Israeli rights group, as cited by The National: about 45 Palestinian communities emptied since October 2023 (The National, 20 February 2026).
  • El País: "more than 3,000 people expelled by settler violence" (El País, 17 February 2026).
  • Responsible Statecraft: "2025 saw over 1,800 attacks," and "Since the war with Iran began, settler violence has escalated further, averaging more than six attacks per day" (Responsible Statecraft, 29 May 2026).
  • The UN human rights office, as reported by The National, described "a concerted and accelerating effort to consolidate annexation" and practices that "raise concerns over ethnic cleansing."

How a hill becomes a settlement​

The pattern has been described many times. Abby Martin's Empire Files walked through "how small settlements—illegal under both Israeli & international law—grow to be permanent fortresses for 100s of settlers" (The Empire Files, 1 May 2021). A video report in October 2025 described "Hilltop Girls," young women who, after army service, pitch a tent on a West Bank hill until a community forms and the authorities legalize it, naming Maoz Esther and Or Ahuvia northeast of Ramallah as examples (Saif Maher on X, 20 October 2025). Farm outposts, a few settlers with herds, take the grazing land around them; Peace Now counts about 130 of the 185 new outposts as farms and hilltops. Compass Report notes Reuters' finding that new outposts "get government grants, military coordination, and eventual official recognition" (The Compass Report on X, 10 September 2026).

In July 2025 a video showed Rabbi Menachem Ben Shachar, who once made a video titled "Q&A - Why should Huwara be erased?", visiting the new settlement Nofei Gideon, built on the lands of the village of Qaddum: "The view is amazing. You can see the coast, you can see Qaddum, the village of the evil ones" (B.M. on X, 14 July 2025). "Erase Hawara" was Smotrich's own phrase in early 2023, one of the events an Israeli Foreign Ministry staff account, reported by Ynet, called "a nail in the coffin of Israeli legitimacy" (Shaiel Ben-Ephraim on X, 25 August 2026).

Soldiers and settlers together​

  • Qusra, August 2026. CNN's Jeremy Diamond: "Israeli security forces showed up in Qusra today to dismantle the illegal outpost & kick out the settlers. Settler reinforcements arrived & clashes ensued. As of now, Israeli forces have withdrawn & the settlers remain" (Jeremy Diamond, as quoted on X, 12 August 2026). A month later J Street: "settlers are still swarming and harassing Palestinian families in Qusra. And IDF soldiers are there, sometimes protecting settlers, sometimes failing to enforce orders to remove them. ... What's happening in Qusra is part of a state-backed policy to push Palestinians out of their homes and make way for Greater Israel" (J Street on X, 16 September 2026).
  • Deir Dibwan, April 2026. A video posted 28 April: "Israeli soldiers collaborating with settlers. While the soldiers provide security the settlers set fire to Palestinian homes and vehicles" (Richard on X, 28 April 2026).
  • Umm al-Kheir, August 2026. A video showed "armed Israeli settlers kidnapping a foreign activist from Umm al-Kheir in the West Bank and taking him to the illegal outpost they established there," later handing him to Israeli police (Ihab Hassan on X, 29 August 2026).
  • Al Jazeera, June 2026: "Videos show Israeli settlers, protected by Israeli soldiers, trying to seize a house under construction" (repost of @AJEnglish, 28 June 2026).
  • An American congressman. Rep. Ro Khanna said he was "detained by Israeli settlers armed with U.S.-made rifles during a West Bank visit" (Reuters, as captured from an X search snippet, July 2026).

The Palestinian analyst Mouin Rabbani put the point in one sentence: "Israel's settlement enterprise is a state project, not the work of vigilantes operating independently or in opposition to the state" (Mouin Rabbani on X, 6 December 2023).

The government's explanation, and the record​

Prime Minister Netanyahu acknowledged that settler violence had "blown up beyond belief" but attributed it to roughly 150 "juvenile delinquents," The National reported (The National, 10 July 2026). Set that beside the record on this page: 118 communities expelled, cabinet-approved settlements, grants and army coordination for outposts, soldiers standing guard during arson, and a finance minister whose "life's mission is to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state." In the same year, the Trump administration lifted sanctions on violent settlers that the Biden administration had imposed, according to a summary of U.S. actions since January 2025 (Grok timeline on X, 23 September 2026).

Displacement is not only the West Bank. In August 2026, Palestinians displaced from the Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams camps were still being denied return "while long-term israeli operational control is planned" (Shameen Suleman on X, 26 August 2026). The Gaza version of the same logic is on Gaza: The Yellow Line and the Resettlement Movement.

Evidence rating: expulsion of Palestinian communities is a result of state-backed settlement policy, not isolated vigilantes: STRONG (Israeli monitors' counts, video of soldiers present, government approval of the outposts).

Status: Jeremy Diamond, Menachem Ben Shachar, Ro Khanna, Mouin Rabbani, Benjamin Netanyahu, Bezalel Smotrich, and Abby Martin are alive. Nothing on this page states that any named person committed a crime.

Sources​

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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