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Last Monday, amid a combined speech by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner urging the recognition of Palestine. We were forcibly removed from the parliamentary assembly, revealing the weak state of what's frequently described as the "sole democratic state in the region". How can officials speak about Middle East peace while refusing to recognize a people deprived of fundamental liberties and entitlements under long-standing military control?

The Situation in the West Bank

Nowhere is the hypocrisy more evident than in the controlled West Bank. There, talk of peace sound distant and faint, while the terrifying echoes of settler violence and intimidation continue loudly. Over 30 occurrences of settler aggression against Palestinian civilians have been documented since the unveiling of the US 20-point plan in late September, featuring physical assaults, stealing of crops, and torching of cars and property.

Systematic Aggression During Harvest Season

The increase in settler terrorism is deliberate. This time marks the start of harvest seasons. Beyond a vital economic event, it constitutes an significant social and cultural moment that shows resilience under military rule. Exactly for these reasons, year after year settlers attack Palestinians during this precious time. During the 2024 harvest season, rights groups documented 113 distinct cases of aggression, intimidation, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive trees and crops by settlers and soldiers, which took place on territories owned by 51 Palestinian-owned communities, towns, and areas.

Israel's military appeared to have had a greater part in hindering the harvesting season

Yesh Din also discovered that "Israeli military seemed to have played a greater role in hindering the harvesting season". In about 70% of instances where entry to farmland was violently blocked, soldiers, border guards, and settlement civilian security coordinators were actually present. They either directly stopped Palestinians from accessing and harvesting their property, or neglected to prevent colonists who threatened or attacked them.

Political Support for Settler Activities

This comes as no surprise, as the leader of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra official in the Defense Ministry responsible for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for instance, a particular military coordination team removed personally-owned olive trees of local residents, citing lack of permits, but overlooked infractions by an illegal nearby colonist encampment. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to stop all construction in the encampment, which was constructed on property seized by Israeli authorities and illegally given to colonists.

Annexation Ambitions and International Reaction

In the occupied West Bank, settler terrorism is simply a instrument used by the administration to achieve de-facto incorporation. Earlier this month, Smotrich led a march of many of colonists in support of annexation the West Bank. He was quoted as saying, "We persist to establish presence with our presence of the Land of Israel with many pioneers, many champions, and countless of colonists who live in this area of the land ... we must to normalize it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their backers in the parliament are explicit about their motives and goals. Why, then, do government officials in the west hesitate from meaningful sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the United Kingdom in the summer, but the impact of the penalty has been minimal. He may not be able to travel to the United Kingdom and visit the London's entertainment district, but he still enjoys the governmental authority to take lands in the West Bank. Even in the declaration of sanctions, the British government emphasized they apply "in his personal capacity" only.

International Acknowledgment and Actual Situation

If the British administration recognizes the truth of colonist aggression and its serious consequences on Palestinian life, why does it still allow goods from settlements to be sold in markets and shops in the UK? If the British leader is genuine about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a state, how can he permit the Israeli government to breach its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the acknowledgment an hollow ploy to silence dissenting voices in the United Kingdom, a hollow gesture only to be implemented in the rebranding of some maps?

Route Toward True Resolution

A fair peace must honor the fundamental entitlements of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, sovereignty, and liberty from military occupation and siege. Only when each person's worth across the Jordan River and sea is respected can we genuinely say peace has been attained.

Genuine resolution demands an independent Palestinian state next to Israel: this is the only solution that has agreement among the international community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace advocates.

Trump may have inflicted pressure on the Israeli leader to stop the genocide, but he probably only did so because the burden of his relationship with the isolated government of Netanyahu had become excessive. The large demonstrations across the globe for the freedom of Palestine, and the persistent anti-government demonstrations inside Israel, are the real factors behind this pressure.

It is due to this enormous public campaign that a ceasefire has been signed, the captives released, and the residents of the territory can enjoy safeguard from destruction. Following the truce arrangement has been finalized, it is vital to keep maintaining this influence. The world has ignored to the violence in Gaza for many years; it must not make the same error in the West Bank.