The number of serious incidents of “nationalistic crime” committed by extremist Jewish settlers in the West Bank surged by 63 percent in the first half of 2026, according to security establishment figures reported by Kan public broadcaster. This represents 660 recorded settler attacks, a significant increase from 405 in the same period in 2025. Attacks targeting Israeli security forces also rose sharply, with 45 such incidents recorded in the first six months of 2026, a 50 percent increase. Palestinian casualties from settler violence climbed, with 140 Palestinians wounded and six killed during the first half of the year, compared with 82 wounded and none killed in the same period last year. These figures didn't include July, when roughly 100 additional incidents of nationalist crime were recorded.
The Enduring Terror Threat
Settler violence has been on the rise in recent years, particularly after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, which marked its second anniversary this year. Data recorded by the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security agency showed the number of attacks by settlers against Palestinians and Israeli security forces in the West Bank rose by 27 percent in 2025 compared with 2024. This rise occurs even as 2025 saw a decrease in Palestinian terror attacks, including knifings, shootings, and car-rammings, continuing a downward trend in recent years. In 2025, the IDF recorded 57 Palestinian terror attacks, leading to the deaths of 20 people. Two soldiers were also killed in an attack carried out by a Jordanian at the Allenby Bridge Crossing in September, less than one year ago. The military counted 258 Palestinian terror attacks with 35 deaths in 2024, and 847 attacks with 41 deaths in 2023. The army attributed this downward trend in Palestinian terror to “sustained offensive activity” in areas considered hotspots of terrorism in the West Bank, especially the refugee camps in the north of the territory.
Israel's Internal Security Challenge
The report indicated that settler attacks occur on a near-daily basis, largely go unchecked, and prosecutions of Jewish extremists are rare, with convictions even rarer. Critics have accused the government, described as the most hardline in Israel’s history, of shrugging off these attacks. In an effort to combat the issue, the cabinet quietly approved a plan in March of the same year that included financial sanctions against violent Israeli hilltop youth. This plan wasn't made public due to political considerations. During deliberations on the plan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly referred to the violence against Palestinians in the West Bank as a “metastasizing cancer.”