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Last week, amid a joint address by American leader Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner calling for the acknowledgment of the Palestinian state. We were violently ejected from the parliamentary session, revealing the weak state of what's often portrayed as the "sole democratic state in the Middle East". How can leaders speak about regional peace while declining to recognize a people denied of basic freedoms and rights under decades-long military control?

The Situation in the Occupied West Bank

Nowhere is the hypocrisy more evident than in the occupied West Bank. There, words of peace seem remote and faint, while the terrifying echoes of settler violence and intimidation continue strongly. Over 30 occurrences of settler aggression against Palestinian civilians have been documented since the announcement of the US peace proposal in September's end, including attacks, theft of crops, and torching of vehicles and belongings.

Targeted Violence During Agricultural Period

The rise in settler terrorism is not coincidental. This period signals the beginning of agricultural harvesting. Beyond a crucial economic event, it constitutes an important social and cultural moment that demonstrates endurance under military rule. Precisely for these reasons, year after year settlers target Palestinians throughout this precious time. During the 2024 harvest period, human rights organizations documented 113 separate cases of aggression, harassment, harvest-thwarting, or damage to olive trees and crops by settlers and military personnel, which took place on territories owned by 51 Palestinian-owned communities, towns, and areas.

Israel's security forces seemed to have played a larger part in hindering the harvesting season

The human rights group also discovered that "Israel's military appeared to have had a larger role in hindering the harvesting season". In approximately 70% of cases where entry to lands was violently blocked, troops, border guards, and settler security officials were actually present. They either personally prevented Palestinians from accessing and gathering their own lands, or neglected to stop colonists who harassed or attacked them.

Political Support for Colonization

This is no shock, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an additional minister in the Defense Ministry responsible for the territorial coordination unit. In Umm al-Khair, for example, a particular military coordination team uprooted personally-owned olive plants of Palestinians, citing missing documentation, but overlooked infractions by an unauthorized adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the local court decided to stop all building work in the outpost, which was built on lands seized by Israeli authorities and unlawfully given to settlers.

Takeover Ambitions and International Response

In the occupied West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a tool used by the administration to pursue practical annexation. Recently, Smotrich headed a procession of many of colonists in support of taking over the West Bank. He was reported as stating, "We are continuing to establish presence with our presence of the territory with numerous pioneers, numerous champions, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who reside in this part of the land ... we need to normalize it and make it eternal."

The settlers and their backers in the Knesset are explicit about their motives and intentions. Why, then, do political leaders in the Western nations hesitate from meaningful sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was penalized by the UK in June, but the impact of the penalty has been limited. He may not be permitted to go to the United Kingdom and visit the West End, but he still enjoys the governmental authority to take lands in the West Bank. Even in the declaration of penalties, the UK highlighted they take place "in his personal capacity" only.

Global Recognition and Reality

If the UK government acknowledges the truth of settler violence and its grave consequences on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow settlement produce to be sold in markets and outlets in Britain? If the British leader is serious about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a state, how can he permit the Israeli government to breach its independence with such aggressive methods? Or was the acknowledgment an hollow ploy to shut down opposition in the United Kingdom, a hollow gesture only to be implemented in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward True Peace

A just resolution must honor the basic entitlements of the Palestinian people for self-determination, independence, and liberty from occupation and blockade. Only when each person's worth across the river and Mediterranean Sea is respected can we truly declare reconciliation has been attained.

Genuine peace demands an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel: this is the only solution that enjoises agreement among the international community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace advocates.

Trump may have inflicted influence on Netanyahu to halt the violence, but he likely only did so because the burden of his relationship with the isolated government of Netanyahu had become too great. The large demonstrations throughout the world for the freedom of Palestine, and the unwavering opposition demonstrations inside the country, are the actual factors behind this influence.

It is due to this enormous public campaign that a ceasefire has been agreed, the hostages freed, and the people of the territory can enjoy protection from annihilation. After the ceasefire agreement has been signed, it is crucial to continue applying this pressure. The world has ignored to the violence in the strip for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the occupied territories.