A US diplomat’s comments are a reminder of Israel’s other front

So what? Attention is understandably focused on Gaza as Israel opens up a new front in the city of Deir al-Balah. But Huckabee’s comments are uncharacteristic given he is an ardent supporter of West Bank settlements. They speak to a deteriorating situation that has seen

• the IDF turn refugee camps into closed military zones;
• Israeli settlers ramp up violence in the name of expansive land claims; and
• Palestinians in the territory displaced at their highest levels for nearly 60 years.

Backstory. Abutting the Jordan River, the West Bank is home to more than three million Palestinians. Under past peace plans, the territory has been earmarked as the core of a future state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Trump’s proposal from 2020 would have given the Palestinians 70 per cent of the West Bank, with the rest going to the Israelis.

Then. Israel calls the territory Judea and Samaria and has occupied it since the Six-Day War of 1967, when the country more than doubled the amount of territory under its control. Settlers rushed in, seeing the area as part of the Jewish people’s biblical homeland.

Now. Some 700,000 Israelis live alongside the Palestinians in 150 settlements and a similar number of outposts. The latter are collections of houses, or sometimes caravans, set up without permission in the hope of eventually gaining Israeli government approval.

Lawbreakers. Settlements are illegal under international laws that ban occupying powers from transferring their own civilian population into occupied territory. But the Israeli state gives them funding and support. Michael Lynk, a former UN special rapporteur, said this was part of a strategy to “demographically change” the West Bank so it “reflects the rest of Israel”.

Escalation. Armed Israeli settlers have stepped up attacks in the West Bank since October 7, with rights groups accusing the IDF of participating in violence.

By the numbers:

• 964 – Palestinians estimated to have been killed in the West Bank since October 2023, alongside 35 Israelis.
• 1,420 – settler attacks against Palestinians last year, the highest on record.
• 30,000 – Palestinians uprooted from their homes in the West Bank since January.

Iron Wall. In January, Israel began a new military operation in the territory that it said was designed to root out militants. It has since issued demolition orders for roughly 1,400 homes.

Expansion plans. In May, Israel approved 22 new settlements in the West Bank, thought to be the largest increase in decades. The far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said he wants a further 500,000 settlers to move into the territory.

Frontline. A woman displaced at the start of this month from near Jericho said settler attacks caused “chaos and terror”. She told The Observer: “They burned down our homes, poisoned our sheep, attacked our school, students, and teachers, terrifying the women and children.”

Part one. On 9 July, there was an arson attack near the 5th century ruins of the Church of St George in the West Bank town of Taybeh. Local residents accused settlers of starting the blaze.

The response. Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, visited the church on Saturday and said people needed to pay the price for destroying something that “belongs to God”. Senator Lindsey Graham, who is staunchly pro-Israel, said yesterday that he was “incredibly upset”. Israel has not commented but previously said any acts of violence by civilians were unacceptable.

Part two. On 12 July, a US dual citizen called Sayfollah Musallet was beaten to death during an alleged confrontation with settlers on a hilltop. He ran an ice-cream shop in Florida.

The response. Huckabee has called the killing of Musallet a “criminal and terrorist act”. Israeli authorities arrested several people, who have since reportedly been released.

Fade to nothing. According to the Israeli rights group Yesh Din, 93 per cent of police investigations into offences committed by Israelis against Palestinians in the West Bank are closed with no indictment filed.

What’s more… Democrats and Republicans have repeatedly opposed Israel’s settlements without ever forcing meaningful change on the ground. Despite Huckabee’s stern words, it was Donald Trump who removed Biden-era sanctions against settlers accused of violence.