Israel's president says 'shocking' settler violence against Palestinians
must end
[November 13, 2025]
By MELANIE LIDMAN and JULIA FRANKEL
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's president and high-ranking military officials
on Wednesday condemned attacks a day earlier by Jewish settlers against
Palestinians in the West Bank, calling for an end to a growing wave of
settler violence in the occupied territory.
President Isaac Herzog described the attacks as “shocking and serious,”
adding a rare and powerful voice to what has been muted criticism by top
Israeli officials of the settler violence. Herzog's position, while
largely ceremonial, is meant to serve as a moral compass and unifying
force for the country.
Herzog said the violence committed by a “handful” of perpetrators
“crosses a red line," adding in a social media post that “all state
authorities must act decisively to eradicate the phenomenon."
His remarks, and those of two high-ranking military officials, came
after dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian
villages of Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf in the West Bank on Tuesday,
setting fire to vehicles and other property before clashing with Israeli
soldiers.
In other developments Wednesday:
— Israel reopened a crossing into the northern Gaza Strip that had been
closed for two months. The move was welcomed by officials at the United
Nations, who say Israel has been too slow in surging humanitarian aid to
the territory since a ceasefire began last month. Aid has been delivered
into Gaza since Oct. 10 through two crossings in southern and central
Gaza.
— The Israeli military said it killed four armed militants who posed an
“immediate threat” in areas of southern Gaza under its control. In Khan
Younis, one person was killed while approaching Israeli troops across
the so-called yellow line. In Rafah, three people were killed while
troops in the area were working to destroy underground tunnels.
Military leaders react to settler violence in the West Bank
The Israeli army's chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, echoed Herzog's
condemnations of the West Bank violence, saying the military “will not
tolerate the phenomena of a minority of criminals who tarnish a
law-abiding public.”
He said the army is committed to stopping violent acts committed by
settlers, which he described as contrary to Israeli values and that
“divert the attention of our forces from fulfilling their mission."
The chief of the military's Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, said
responding to an “anarchist fringe” requires the use of significant
resources that could otherwise be focused on bolstering security and
conducting counterterrorism operations.
The army said the settlers who attacked the villages fled to a nearby
industrial zone and attacked soldiers responding to the violence,
damaging a military vehicle. Police said four Israelis were arrested,
while the military said four Palestinians were wounded.
On Wednesday, police said three of the suspects were released and that
one, a minor arrested on suspicion of arson and assault, will remain in
custody for six more days, as ordered by a judge. Police said the
actions of the three who were released are still under investigation
“with the goal of bringing offenders to justice, regardless of their
background.”
Settler violence has surged
Tuesday's violence in the West Bank was the latest in a series of
attacks by young settlers that have surged since the war in Gaza erupted
two years ago. The attacks have intensified in recent weeks as
Palestinians harvest their olive trees in an annual ritual.
The U.N. humanitarian office last week reported more Israeli settler
attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank in October than in any other
month since it began keeping track in 2006. There were over 260 attacks,
the office said.
Palestinians and human rights workers accuse the Israeli army and police
of failing to halt attacks by settlers. Israel’s government is dominated
by far-right proponents of the settler movement including Finance
Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who formulates settlement policy, and Cabinet
minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the nation's police force.
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Palestinians survey damage in an industrial zone following an attack
by Israeli settlers the previous day in the West Bank village of
Beit Lid, near Tulkarm, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi
Mohammed)
Muayyad Shaaban, who heads an office in the Palestinian Authority
that is tracking the violence, said the settlers set fire to four
dairy trucks, farmland, tin shacks and tents belonging to a Bedouin
community.
He said the attacks were part of a campaign to drive Palestinians
from their land and accused Israel of giving the settlers protection
and immunity. He called for sanctions against groups that “sponsor
and support the colonial settlement terrorism project.”
Palestinians react angrily
In Beit Lid, residents said they don't want their lives ruled by
fear of settler violence.
Mahmoud Edeis said the violence is undermining his family's right to
live in safety.
“To feel that my children are safe, that when I go to sleep I can
say, ‘OK, there’s nothing (to worry about),’” he said. "But at any
moment something could happen … This can’t go on. It can’t be that
we keep living our whole lives in a state of fear and danger.”
Amjad Amer Al-Juneidi, who works at a dairy factory that was
attacked Tuesday, said the “fully organized” attack saw one person
carrying gasoline-filled cans, another prying open the factory door
with a crowbar and a third individual igniting the fuel.
“Their entry into the company wasn’t random. It was organized, and
they had a fully organized tactic for how to carry out the burning,"
Al-Juneidi said.
UN officials say more aid is needed in Gaza
While U.N. officials welcomed the Israeli decision to reopen the
Zikim crossing into northern Gaza, they also reiterated criticism of
Israel for not doing more.
Stéphane Dujarric, the U.N. spokesperson, said Wednesday that
humanitarian groups in Gaza are being hampered in their ability to
distribute food once it arrives in the territory and having to
“stretch out the available stocks.”
The demand for baby formula, for example, far exceeds the current
supply, UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires told The Associated Press
on Tuesday.
Pires said there are also concerns about whether there will be
enough syringes to carry out a vaccination campaign that began this
month and will continue into January.
The Israeli agency in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza, COGAT,
said in a statement on Tuesday that “Israel is fully committed to
its obligation to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid trucks in
accordance with the (ceasefire) agreement.”
Later Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the
Gaza ceasefire “is fragile, is repeatedly violated, but it is
holding”
Guterres strongly appealed for the ceasefire between Hamas and
Israel “to be fully respected and to pave the way for the
negotiations of Phase Two, leading to the creation of the conditions
for the self-determination of the Palestinian people and the
creation of the two-state solution.”
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Associated Press report Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations, and
Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo, contributed reporting.
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