'There's no safety anymore': Palestinians warn of expanding settler violence

"This assault wasn't just meant to burn the houses but also to kill - to kill women and children," says Barhan Omar, standing in the charred ruins of his family's large villa, which Israeli settlers attacked on Sunday.

"They came in big numbers. This was organised terrorism," he tells me, fighting back tears. "What's terrifying is that you're sitting in your house with your children, then suddenly you come under fire."

The Palestinian bank manager says settlers shot at his home in Deir al-Hatab, near Nablus, as well as setting it alight, and that he and his children escaped only by hiding on their roof.

Across the occupied West Bank, there has been a new spate of settler violence in recent days. During the rampage in Deir al-Hatab, at least 10 people were injured - mostly by thrown stones, with one man shot in the foot.

This is a village that has not previously experienced such a major attack, unlike other parts of the West Bank.

It followed the funeral of a young Israeli, Yehuda Sherman, at the nearby settlement of Elon Moreh, which was attended by hundreds of mourners and several leading Israeli politicians.

The 18-year-old was killed when his all-terrain vehicle was reportedly hit by a Palestinian in a pick-up truck near the outpost where he lived. Settlers believe he was attacked, while Palestinians insist it was an accident.

Already there had been a new surge in attacks by extremist settlers since the start of the Iran war. While world attention has been diverted to new regional conflicts, six Palestinians have been killed by settlers, the UN says.

In another shocking incident two weeks ago, residents of Khirbet Humsa in the northern Jordan Valley accused settlers of sexually assaulting a man and beating others as they ordered them off the land. Israeli police have since made seven arrests.

It follows a trend seen during the Gaza war, triggered by the Hamas-led attacks on Israel in October 2023; there was a sharp acceleration in settler violence and settlement growth fast-tracked by the Israeli government. Last year set a record for the most extensive expansion of settlements and planning approvals since the UN began its monitoring.

All settlements are seen as illegal under international law. Outposts are set up without Israeli government approval.

"They [the settlers] have seen all the last three years as an opportunity, some say this is the time of 'a miracle'," says Yair Dvir, spokesman for the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem. "What we're seeing now on the ground is a continuation of the ethnic cleansing campaign by Israel."

Israel strongly rejects that its actions amount to ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Recently, the UN's human rights office also suggested that "forcible transfers, which appear to aim at a permanent displacement raise concerns over ethnic cleansing".

The first focus for settlers has been what is known as Area C of the West Bank - where Israel retained full security and administrative control after the 1993 Oslo peace accords. The accords divided the territory - temporarily, it was intended - into areas A, B, and C, with A and B under Palestinian civil and partial Israeli security control, and C under full Israeli control.

Between January 2023 and mid-February 2026, at least 4,765 Palestinians from 97 locations, have been displaced by settler violence, the UN's humanitarian office says. Most were from Bedouin and herding communities in Area C. At the start of this year, 600 people were forced from one Bedouin village, Ras Ein al-Auja, in the Jordan Valley.

Now, settler violence is increasingly focused on built-up Palestinian villages - such as Deir al-Hatab - in Area B, where Israel has kept security control, but the Palestinian Authority has civil powers.

"In areas where the Palestinian communities have been emptied out in C, the next step is happening, the settlers are going westward towards the B areas to continue the agenda of emptying out this land," says Allegra Pacheco, chief of party for the West Bank Protection Consortium, a partnership of international NGOs supported by foreign donors.

"This is an intentional policy. This is not haphazard, some bad youth misbehaving. This is all the way to the top. The goal is to empty out these areas, to enable Israel to annex them, to expand the settlements, and deplete these areas of Palestinians."

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich - a settler himself - is a key driver of government policy on settlements. He has been sanctioned by the UK and others for inciting West Bank violence.

The minister is clear that he plans "to bury the idea of a Palestinian state" and has taken unprecedented steps to tighten Israel's hold on the West Bank, where settlers claim religious and historical rights to the land. He has declared vast areas "state land", and claims to have approved or retroactively authorised 69 new settlements.

Speaking at the funeral of Yehuda Sherman, Smotrich referred to "the disgrace of Oslo" and called to bring down the Palestinian Authority, which was set up after the breakthrough peace treaty. "We will settle all our land in all its parts," he pledged.

Last week, Israel's military chief of staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, strongly condemned settler violence, calling it "morally and ethically unacceptable" and a danger to security.

However, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have faced mounting criticism for actively participating in attacks, standing by, or failing to prosecute those responsible.

While the IDF said it viewed the settler violence following the funeral "seriously", residents of Deir al-Hatab complained that soldiers in a nearby watchtower turned a blind eye to the mob that descended on the village and delayed the arrival of ambulances and firefighters.

In the village, locals now fear a repeat of the violence.

From the rooftop of his burnt home, Samer Omar, a father-of-four, points out a new track on a nearby hill where settlers are planning another outpost.

"Soon, we'll be encircled," he says gloomily. "There's no safety anymore. I want to raise the wall four or five metres higher, but will that help? May God protect us all."

His neighbour, Barhan Omar, the bank manager, strikes a more defiant note, warning of the risk of a new Palestinian uprising as pressure builds up.

"[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu should know that we won't stand watching," he says. "The Palestinian people will remain steadfast, defending their land and their lives."