There have been more than 1,000 violent settler attacks in the first eight months of 2025 alone. While much of the globe's attention remains on the Gaza ceasefire deal, less than 33 kilometres (21 miles) away, Israeli settlers, often backed by soldiers, continue daily assaults and raids across the occupied West Bank. On Monday night, Israeli settlers uprooted 150 olive trees in the village of Bardala, in the northern Jordan Valley, destroying the livelihood of several families.
According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, illegal settlers attacked Palestinian farmers while they were harvesting olives in the Jabal Qamas area of Beita, beating them and setting fire to three vehicles, one of which belonged to AFP photographer Jaafar Ishtayeh. In my 30-year career, this is the first time I have faced violence of this kind, Ishtayeh said. If I hadn't managed to escape, they would have killed me.