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Last week, amid a joint address by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, colleague lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner calling for the acknowledgment of the Palestinian state. We were violently ejected from the parliamentary session, exposing the weak state of what's often described as the "only democratic state in the region". How can officials talk about Middle East peace while refusing to recognize a population denied of fundamental liberties and entitlements under long-standing military control?

The Situation in the West Bank

In no place is the hypocrisy more apparent than in the occupied West Bank. There, words of reconciliation sound distant and faint, while the terrifying echoes of colonist attacks and terror continue strongly. More than 30 incidents of settler aggression against Palestinian civilians have been recorded since the unveiling of the US peace proposal in September's end, including attacks, theft of agricultural produce, and burning of cars and property.

Targeted Aggression During Agricultural Period

The increase in violence by colonists is deliberate. This period signals the beginning of harvest seasons. More than a crucial economic event, it represents an significant communal and national moment that shows resilience under occupation. Exactly for these reasons, annually colonists attack Palestinians throughout this crucial period. During the 2024 harvest season, human rights organizations recorded 113 separate cases of violence, intimidation, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive groves and produce involving Israeli civilians and military personnel, which took place on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian-owned villages, municipalities, and areas.

Israel's security forces appeared to have had a larger part in obstructing the harvesting season

Yesh Din also found that "Israeli military appeared to have played a larger role in obstructing the olive harvest". In about 70% of cases where entry to lands was forcibly blocked, troops, border police officers, and settlement security officials were physically on site. They either directly stopped Palestinian farmers from reaching and harvesting their own lands, or neglected to prevent colonists who harassed or assaulted them.

Government Backing for Settler Activities

This comes as no shock, as the leader of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an additional official in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the territorial coordination unit. In one village, for example, a special COGAT unit removed private olive trees of local residents, citing missing documentation, but ignored violations by an illegal nearby settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court decided to stop all construction in the encampment, which was constructed on property taken by Israeli authorities and illegally transferred to colonists.

Annexation Goals and International Reaction

In the occupied West Bank, settler terrorism is nothing but a tool used by the government to achieve de-facto annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich headed a procession of thousands of settlers in favor of taking over the West Bank. He was reported as stating, "We are continuing to take hold with our presence of the territory with numerous settlers, many champions, and hundreds of thousands of colonists who reside in this part of the territory ... we need to normalise it and make it eternal."

The settlers and their supporters in the Knesset are explicit about their motives and goals. Why, then, do political leaders in the west hesitate from substantial sanctions and political actions? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in June, but the effect of the penalty has been minimal. He may not be permitted to travel to the UK and tour the West End, but he still enjoys the governmental authority to take territories in the West Bank. Even in the declaration of penalties, the UK highlighted they apply "in his personal capacity" only.

International Recognition and Actual Situation

If the UK government acknowledges the reality of settler violence and its serious implications on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow settlement produce to be sold in stores and shops in the UK? If Starmer is serious about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a sovereign entity, how come he allow the Israeli government to violate its independence with such violent means? Or was the recognition an empty ploy to shut down dissenting voices in the UK, a meaningless gesture only to be implemented in the relabeling of some maps?

Route Toward True Peace

A fair resolution must respect the basic entitlements of the Palestinian population for self-determination, sovereignty, and liberty from military occupation and blockade. Only when each person's dignity across the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea is respected can we genuinely declare reconciliation has been achieved.

True peace requires an sovereign Palestinian nation alongside Israel: this is the only solution that enjoises consensus among the global community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace advocates.

The former US president may have applied pressure on Netanyahu to stop the violence, but he likely only did so because the strain of his relationship with the pariah regime of the Israeli PM had become too great. The large demonstrations across the globe for the freedom of Palestinian territories, and the persistent opposition demonstrations within Israel, are the real factors behind this influence.

It is thanks to this massive civil movement that a truce has been signed, the hostages released, and the residents of Gaza can enjoy safeguard from annihilation. Following the truce arrangement has been signed, it is vital to continue maintaining this pressure. The international community has ignored to the atrocities in the strip for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the occupied territories.