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Last week, amid a joint speech by American leader Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, colleague lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner urging the recognition of the Palestinian state. We were forcibly removed from the legislative assembly, revealing the fragile state of what's frequently described as the "only democratic state in the region". How can officials speak about regional peace while refusing to acknowledge a population deprived of basic liberties and entitlements under decades-long military control?

The Situation in the West Bank

Nowhere is the deceit more apparent than in the controlled West Bank. There, talk of peace sound distant and weak, while the terrifying echoes of settler violence and terror continue strongly. More than 30 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinians have been recorded since the unveiling of the Trump administration's peace proposal in September's end, including physical assaults, stealing of crops, and torching of vehicles and property.

Targeted Aggression During Harvest Season

The rise in violence by colonists is not coincidental. This period marks the beginning of agricultural harvesting. More than a crucial economic event, it represents an significant social and national occasion that demonstrates endurance under occupation. Exactly for these causes, year after year settlers target Palestinian farmers during this precious time. During the 2024 harvest period, rights groups documented 113 distinct incidents of aggression, harassment, preventing harvesting, or damage to olive trees and produce by Israeli civilians and military personnel, which occurred on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian-owned communities, municipalities, and communities.

Israeli security forces appeared to have had a larger part in obstructing the harvesting season

The human rights group also discovered that "Israeli security forces seemed to have had a greater part in hindering the harvesting season". In approximately 70% of instances where entry to lands was forcibly prevented, soldiers, border guards, and settlement security officials were physically present. They either directly stopped Palestinians from accessing and gathering their property, or neglected to prevent colonists who threatened or assaulted them.

Government Backing for Colonization

This is no shock, as the head of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an extra official in the Ministry of Defence responsible for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In Umm al-Khair, for example, a special military coordination team uprooted private olive trees of local residents, claiming lack of permits, but ignored infractions by an illegal adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to stop all construction in the encampment, which was built on property seized by Israel and unlawfully transferred to colonists.

Takeover Ambitions and Global Response

In the occupied West Bank, settler terrorism is simply a instrument used by the government to achieve de-facto annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich led a procession of thousands of colonists in favor of annexation the West Bank. He was quoted as saying, "We persist to establish presence with our presence of the territory with many pioneers, many heroes, and countless of settlers who reside in this part of the land ... we need to normalise it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their backers in the Knesset are explicit about their intentions and goals. Why, then, do government officials in the Western nations refrain from meaningful sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in June, but the impact of the sanction has been minimal. He may not be permitted to travel to the UK and tour the West End, but he still maintains the ministerial power to seize lands in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of sanctions, the UK emphasized they apply "personally" only.

International Acknowledgment and Actual Situation

If the UK government recognizes the reality of colonist aggression and its grave implications on Palestinian life, why does it still permit goods from settlements to be marketed in markets and shops in the UK? If Starmer is serious about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a sovereign entity, how come he permit the Israeli government to violate its independence with such aggressive methods? Or was the acknowledgment an empty tactic to shut down opposition in the UK, a hollow act only to be implemented in the relabeling of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward True Resolution

A just resolution must respect the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, independence, and liberty from military occupation and siege. Only when every human being's dignity across the river and sea is respected can we genuinely say reconciliation has been achieved.

Genuine peace demands an independent Palestinian nation next to the Israeli state: this is the sole formula that has consensus among the global community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace camp.

The former US president may have inflicted influence on Netanyahu to halt the violence, but he probably only did so because the strain of his connection with the isolated government of Netanyahu had become excessive. The large demonstrations throughout the globe for the freedom of Palestinian territories, and the unwavering opposition demonstrations within the country, are the real forces behind this pressure.

It is thanks to this enormous public campaign that a ceasefire has been agreed, the captives freed, and the people of the territory can enjoy protection from annihilation. Following the truce arrangement has been finalized, it is crucial to keep applying this influence. The international community has turned a blind eye to the violence in the strip for many years; it must not make the same error in the occupied territories.