Israeli settlers attack foreign volunteers in occupied West Bank

On July 21, in the occupied West Bank, a group of Palestinian farmers were tending to their olive grove near Qusra, a Palestinian village around 16km south of Nablus, before the day took a violent turn.

An international group of eight volunteers from the International Solidarity Movement - a group that deploys people in the occupied West Bank to form a "protective presence" for Palestinians at risk of facing violence - were helping the farmers that day, unaware that some of them would end up in hospital beds by the evening.

It was two days after the International Court of Justice ruled Israel's presence in the occupied territories “illegal”, marking the first time the world court has issued a stance on the legality of the 57-year occupation.

The Palestinian farmers were clearing burnt olive trees from their land that illegal Israeli settlers set fire to as a means of further destroying Palestine’s fragile economy.

Yet, their reparation work was interrupted by a group of about ten Israeli settlers who descended from the nearby illegal settlement named Esh Kodesh, with batons, metal pipes, and stones in their hands.

They violently attacked the farmers and volunteers, striking a German national in the face and arm with a metal pipe and beating two American volunteers with wooden batons.

A fourth American volunteer was injured by stones hurled by the settlers, who also stole her phone amidst the chaos.

"We were standing there peacefully, not a threat to anyone, when they started coming towards us and pushing us down the path," David Hummel, an American-German volunteer in the group, told AFP.

"I was attacked on my legs, on my arms and here on my jaw as well and it was ... very violent," he added, showing bruising to his face.

Settler impunity

After the violence broke out, Israeli troops arrived at the scene and fired shots in the air to chase away the volunteers and farmers, according to the village’s mayor, Hani Odeh.

Yet, they did not make any arrests, the volunteer group said. When the activists attempted to call police forces to the scene, their request was declined, with the emergency hotline informing them that “the army notified them there is no need to send forces”.

“The attack today, not even 24 hours after the ICJ ruled that Israeli occupation is illegal and that settlers enjoy impunity when exercising violence, serves as further proof for the dire need for international civil protection in Palestine,” said Mohammed Khatib, an organiser with the campaign, in a statement quoted on the group’s website.

“Eighteen communities in the West Bank have been completely wiped out by such violence since October, and the Palestinian people have no more time to wait,” the statement continued.

At least three foreign volunteers and one Palestinian were among those taken to the Rafidia Hospital in the nearby city of Nablus, according to Qusra's mayor.

The village of Qusra, surrounded by illegal settlements and outposts, has been a frequent target of nearly daily attacks by Israeli settlers, according to the group’s website.

The same village saw the killing of three Palestinians and the wounding of 11 others by gunshots from illegal Israeli forces and settlers, on October 11.

Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have been on the rise since October 7.

The assaults have involved violence against villagers, vandalism of property, gunfire as well as arson, often carried out with no consequences.

Since October 7, at least 579 Palestinians have been killed in violence with settlers or Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian authorities.

Under international law, all Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal.