A wave of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has intensified since early 2026, accompanied by expanding Israeli military operations, mass arrests, and international condemnation.

On February 13, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians across multiple West Bank towns, injuring at least 54 people, destroying 300 olive trees, and vandalizing property under Israeli military protection, according to Al Jazeera. That same day, Asma al-Sharabati, acting mayor of Hebron, condemned new Israeli legal changes that exclude Palestinian authorities from urban planning in the West Bank, calling it the end of negotiations, BBC News reported.

In late February and March, attacks escalated further. On March 8, settlers killed two Palestinians near Ramallah, and by March 17 a UN report documented 36,000 Palestinians displaced due to settlement expansion and settler violence, warning of possible ethnic cleansing, Daily Sabah reported. Diplomats from 13 European countries and Canada condemned what they called "seterror," noting at least six Palestinians killed in settler attacks since March, TRT World reported.

On March 27, Palestinian Muhammad al-Malhi was killed by settlers near Bethlehem, becoming the seventh Palestinian killed since February, BBC News reported. A Guardian analysis cited by RT found that Israel has not prosecuted any of its citizens for killing Palestinian civilians in the West Bank since the start of the decade, despite at least 1,100 Palestinians killed since 2020.

In April, the Israeli cabinet secretly approved 34 new West Bank settlements, a record number, according to Middle East Eye. On May 6, Israeli Major-General Avi Bluth revealed a two-tier firing policy, stating that soldiers avoid firing at settlers while freely firing at Palestinians, Al Jazeera reported. On June 10, Amnesty International published a report accusing Israel of a state-sanctioned campaign of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, The Independent reported.

On July 16, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed alarm over Israel upgrading the Givat Ze'ev settlement, reiterating that settlements are illegal under international law, TRT World reported.

The situation escalated sharply on July 24 when over 20 Israeli settlers from Havat Gilad attacked Palestinian homes in Tal, near Nablus, killing four members of the Ramadan family. A settler and an Israeli soldier were also killed in the confrontation, with two other Israelis wounded. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a crackdown and announced new settler outposts, while Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered wide-scale military operations in Palestinian villages, CBS News and TRT World reported, with further details from Al Jazeera. On July 25, Israeli forces detained over 70 Palestinian men in Tell, searched over 300 locations, and raided a hospital in Nablus, according to The Independent. New illegal outposts appeared across the West Bank in the following days, Al Jazeera reported. The United States condemned violence by all parties, TRT World reported. Israeli police arrested nine people at a Tel Aviv demonstration against settler violence, Al Jazeera reported.

On July 26, Israeli settlers set fire to two mosques — one in Kur and one under construction in Qusra — spray-painting Hebrew graffiti, TRT World and Deutsche Welle reported. The Palestinian foreign ministry reported that 1,182 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank since October 2023 and that settlers carried out 3,488 attacks in the first half of 2026, TRT World reported.

On July 27, the UAE condemned the mosque arson and called on Israel to hold perpetrators accountable, TRT World reported. Guterres criticized Israeli plans to accelerate settlement legalisation, noting that recent violence had killed at least eight Palestinians and two Israelis, and the UN recorded over 1,330 settler-related incidents since January, Al Jazeera reported. The UN documented 1,988 Palestinians displaced in the first four months of 2026, according to TRT World. The United States Embassy restricted travel for its personnel in the West Bank, the same source reported. In Gaza, the death toll since the October 2025 ceasefire reached 1,203, Al Jazeera reported.