Jerusalem (AFP) – The attack on a Palestinian village in the West Bank occupied by around a hundred Israelis testifies to the emergence of a new radical generation of settlers, whose threat the Israeli authorities have until now rather minimized.

Published on: 09/30/2026 - 09:54

The surge in violence against Palestinians in recent months is fueled by a loosely structured movement of radical settlers, mostly young and school dropouts from outside the Palestinian territory, known as "hill youth."

Inspired by a nationalist religious ideology, this movement seeks to expand the Jewish presence in the West Bank by setting up unauthorized outposts, usually tents or caravans, outside settlements recognized by Israel.

If Israeli groups breaking their ban have lived in the West Bank since the 1960s, this generation aims to appropriate Palestinian land, through violence if necessary, analyzes Dvir Warshavsky, member of the Children of Abraham, a religious Jewish group defending Palestinian rights.

On Tuesday morning, around a hundred settlers defied Israeli forces to prevent the return to the village of Jalud of a Palestinian family forced to leave their home two months ago after suffering attacks.

Three police officers were injured in the clashes, and three suspects, including two minors, were arrested. This violence has drawn rare condemnation from Israeli leaders.

“A handful of delinquents”

According to a recent message on a Whatsapp group linked to the movement and consulted by AFP, the "hill youth" are believed to be behind 635 attacks in the last 12 months in 158 Palestinian villages during which 409 people were injured and 436 cars burned - figures which cannot be independently verified.

Faced with the intensification of this violence, the perpetrators of which are rarely prosecuted, several countries including the Netherlands and Great Britain have recently imposed sanctions on products from the colonies, arousing the anger of Israel.

Some settlers are also distancing themselves: at the end of 2025, the leaders of three local councils proclaimed their "zero tolerance" towards the "young people of the hills".

These attacks are the work of "a handful of young delinquents, around 150", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu downplayed last week at the UN, accusing the international community of ignoring the violence committed by the Palestinians.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, where 500,000 Israeli settlers live today among three million Palestinians.

The Israeli government recognizes around 140 settlements, illegal under international law, plus around 400 farms and outposts, not recognized by Israeli law, according to the Israeli NGO Peace Now.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, triggered by the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, and the opening of new fronts, many soldiers have been deployed outside the West Bank, and the security of settlements has often been ensured by reservists, often settlers themselves.

However, according to experts, these settlers are less likely than soldiers to dismantle the outposts.

The "hill youth" movement gained momentum after the dismantling in 2005 of 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four others in the West Bank as part of a unilateral Israeli "disengagement".

Its growth was built in particular on the resentment of the thousands of Israelis then forced to leave, according to experts.

- "As much land as possible" -

A more ideological approach has emerged and gradually replaced "the traditional settler strategy aimed at building ever more colonies to settle more people there", analyzes Mr. Warshavsky.

With the credo "as few people as possible on as much land as possible", the new generation seeks to multiply small outposts over the largest possible area.

The rise of political leaders carrying this ideology, such as the far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, has brought legitimacy and growing financial support to this community.

If the government cannot directly transfer funds to illegal colonies, it finances "everything else" - roads, surveillance cameras, solar panels, patrol vehicles, etc. - in addition to the protection of the army, assures Hagit Ofran of Peace Now.

And to deplore that "the army does not want to deal with" the troublemakers and "does not seek to fight them".

© 2026 AFP

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