A Rising Tide of Violence in the West Bank

Hello, everyone. Today at WPR, we’re covering Southeast Asian nations’ strategic calculus as they deal with the erratic Trump administration, and why most commentators are wrong to pan Kazakhstan’s decision to join the Abraham Accords.

But first, here’s our take on today’s top story:

A series of brazen Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank this week has provoked rare condemnation from top Israeli officials. On Tuesday, dozens of masked settlers attacked the Palestinian villages of Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf, torching vehicles and other property before clashing with Israeli soldiers.

President Isaac Herzog called the incident “shocking and serious,” adding that “all state authorities must act decisively to eradicate the phenomenon” of extremist settler violence. Israel’s army chief, Eyal Zamir, said the military “will not tolerate the phenomena of a minority of criminals who tarnish a law-abiding public.” And Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, head of the Israel Defense Forces’ Central Command, which oversees the West Bank, called the settlers an “anarchist fringe” that was diverting the army’s resources.

Just a day after those statements, settlers mounted another attack in a display of defiance, setting fire to a mosque in the northern West Bank and defacing it with racist graffiti. Among the messages were, “Not afraid of Avi Bluth.”