Ministry of Foreign Affairs Efforts Continue to Halt Settler Terrorism and Dismantle Barriers

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Efforts Continue to Halt Settler Terrorism and Dismantle Barriers

Lifting Sanctions on Extremist Settlers Encourages More Crimes Against Our People

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemns in the strongest terms the brutal attacks carried out by armed settler militias against Palestinian civilians, towns, homes and holy sites. The latest of these heinous assaults took place in the towns of Al-Funduq and Jinsafut, east of Qalqilya, where armed settler gangs burned homes and shops, smashed vehicles, terrorized unarmed civilians, and injured 21 people. These crimes were carried out under the protection of the Israeli military and political leadership, which allowed around 50 masked terrorist settlers to launch a public and collective attack on the town of Al-Funduq. The Israeli authorities, fully aware of the attackers' origins and bases, took no action to prevent these acts and, in many cases, intervened to suppress Palestinians defending themselves.

Moreover, the Israeli occupation forces have intensified collective punishment and restrictions on the Palestinian people throughout the occupied West Bank. This includes the closure of entrances to Palestinian governorates, cities, towns, and refugee camps using iron gates, earth mounds, and military checkpoints. Currently, the total number of illegal obstructions has reached approximately 898, including 16 new iron gates installed in the past couple of days. These measures have fragmented the West Bank, isolating its areas, paralyzing the movement of civilians, and leaving thousands of Palestinian families stranded for hours on checkpoints of humiliation and suffering in what constitutes the most egregious form of Israeli apartheid.

The Ministry views with grave concern the recent decision by the Israeli Defense Minister to lift sanctions on extremist settlers and release those arrested, warning that such actions fuel further violence. This calculated escalation appears to be an attempt to provoke chaos in the occupied West Bank, laying the groundwork to replicate the crimes of genocide and forced displacement that Israel committed in Gaza, while paving the way for brutal disorder to justify annexation efforts.

The Ministry holds the international community fully accountable for its failure to fulfill its obligations to protect the Palestinian people and demands urgent action, including the imposition of effective sanctions on Israel and its settler terrorist networks. The Ministry calls for the dismantling of these extremist organizations, the drying up of their funding sources, and the removal of the political and legal shields that enable their crimes. Simultaneously, the Ministry continues its comprehensive political, diplomatic, and legal efforts with states, international organizations, and the United Nations to expose the occupation's crimes and rally a global coalition capable of pressuring the Israeli government to halt its brutal attacks, dismantle its apartheid system, and end its illegal occupation of the land of the State of Palestine.