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Last Monday, amid a combined speech by US President Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I displayed a banner urging the acknowledgment of the Palestinian state. We were forcibly ejected from the legislative session, exposing the weak state of what's frequently portrayed as the "sole democracy in the region". How can officials speak about Middle East peace while refusing to acknowledge a population denied of fundamental liberties and entitlements under long-standing military control?

The Reality in the Occupied West Bank

Nowhere is the hypocrisy more evident than in the occupied West Bank. There, talk of peace sound distant and faint, while the terrifying echoes of settler violence and intimidation persist strongly. Over 30 incidents of settler aggression against Palestinians have been recorded since the unveiling of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in late September, featuring physical assaults, theft of crops, and burning of vehicles and property.

Systematic Aggression During Agricultural Period

The rise in violence by colonists is deliberate. This period signals the start of harvest seasons. More than a crucial economic event, it represents an significant communal and cultural moment that demonstrates resilience under occupation. Precisely for these reasons, year after year settlers target Palestinians throughout this precious period. During the 2024 harvest period, human rights organizations recorded 113 separate cases of violence, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or destruction to olive groves and crops involving Israeli civilians and soldiers, which occurred on lands owned by 51 Palestinian-owned communities, towns, and areas.

Israeli security forces appeared to have played a larger role in hindering the olive harvest

Yesh Din also found that "Israeli military appeared to have played a greater role in obstructing the olive harvest". In about 70% of instances where entry to farmland was forcibly prevented, troops, border police officers, and settlement security officials were physically on site. They either personally prevented Palestinian farmers from reaching and harvesting their property, or neglected to stop colonists who threatened or attacked them.

Government Support for Settler Activities

This comes as no shock, as the leader of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra minister in the Defense Ministry in charge of the territorial coordination unit. In Umm al-Khair, for example, a special COGAT unit uprooted private olive plants of Palestinians, citing lack of permits, but ignored infractions by an illegal adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the local court decided to halt all construction in the outpost, which was built on property seized by Israeli authorities and illegally transferred to colonists.

Annexation Ambitions and Global Response

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is simply a tool used by the government to pursue practical incorporation. Earlier this month, Smotrich led a march of many of colonists in favor of taking over the West Bank. He was reported as stating, "We are continuing to take hold with our feet of the Land of Israel with many settlers, numerous champions, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who live in this area of the territory ... we must to normalise it and establish it permanently."

The settlers and their supporters in the parliament are clear about their intentions and intentions. Why, then, do government officials in the west hesitate from substantial sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was penalized by the UK in the summer, but the effect of the sanction has been minimal. He may not be able to travel to the United Kingdom and tour the West End, but he still enjoys the ministerial power to seize territories in the West Bank. Remarkably in the announcement of sanctions, the UK emphasized they apply "personally" solely.

International Recognition and Reality

If the British administration acknowledges the reality of settler violence and its grave consequences on Palestinian existence, why does it still permit settlement produce to be sold in stores and outlets in the UK? If the British leader is serious about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how come he allow the Israeli government to breach its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an empty tactic to silence dissenting voices in the United Kingdom, a hollow gesture only to be realised in the rebranding of some maps?

Pathway to True Peace

A fair resolution must honor the basic entitlements of the Palestinian population for self-determination, independence, and freedom from occupation and siege. Only when every person's dignity between the Jordan River and sea is respected can we truly declare reconciliation has been achieved.

Genuine resolution requires an independent Palestinian nation next to Israel: this is the sole solution that enjoises consensus among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace camp.

The former US president may have inflicted pressure on Netanyahu to halt the genocide, but he probably only did so because the burden of his connection with the isolated government of the Israeli PM had become too great. The large demonstrations across the world for the freedom of Palestinian territories, and the persistent opposition demonstrations inside the country, are the real factors behind this influence.

It is due to this massive civil movement that a truce has been agreed, the captives released, and the residents of Gaza can experience safeguard from destruction. Following the ceasefire agreement has been signed, it is crucial to continue maintaining this influence. The international community has turned a blind eye to the atrocities in Gaza for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the occupied territories.