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Last Monday, during a joint address by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a sign urging the acknowledgment of the Palestinian state. We were violently ejected from the legislative session, revealing the weak condition of what's often described as the "only democratic state in the region". How can officials talk about Middle East peace while declining to acknowledge a population deprived of fundamental liberties and rights under long-standing military control?

The Situation in the Occupied West Bank

Nowhere is the deceit more evident than in the occupied West Bank. There, talk of reconciliation sound distant and weak, while the terrifying echoes of colonist attacks and intimidation persist strongly. More than 30 incidents of settler aggression against Palestinians have been recorded since the unveiling of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in September's end, featuring attacks, theft of agricultural produce, and torching of vehicles and property.

Systematic Violence During Harvest Season

The increase in settler terrorism is not coincidental. This time marks the beginning of agricultural harvesting. More than a crucial economic activity, it constitutes an important communal and cultural occasion that demonstrates endurance under occupation. Precisely for these causes, annually colonists attack Palestinian farmers throughout this precious period. During the 2024 harvest season, human rights organizations recorded 113 distinct incidents of violence, intimidation, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive trees and crops involving Israeli civilians and soldiers, which took place on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian communities, towns, and areas.

Israel's security forces appeared to have played a larger part in hindering the harvesting season

The human rights group also discovered that "Israeli security forces seemed to have played a greater role in hindering the harvesting season". In approximately 70% of cases where access to lands was violently prevented, troops, border police officers, and settler security officials were actually on site. They either directly stopped Palestinians from reaching and harvesting their own lands, or neglected to stop settlers who harassed or attacked them.

Political Support for Colonization

This is no surprise, as the leader of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra official in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the territorial coordination unit. In Umm al-Khair, for example, a special COGAT unit removed private olive trees of Palestinians, claiming lack of permits, but ignored infractions by an illegal nearby colonist encampment. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to stop all building work in the encampment, which was built on lands taken by Israeli authorities and illegally given to colonists.

Annexation Ambitions and Global Reaction

In the occupied West Bank, settler terrorism is simply a instrument used by the government to achieve de-facto incorporation. Recently, Smotrich led a procession of thousands of settlers in favor of taking over the West Bank. He was quoted as stating, "We are continuing to take hold with our feet of the Land of Israel with many pioneers, numerous champions, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who reside in this part of the territory ... we need to normalize it and establish it permanently."

The settlers and their supporters in the parliament are clear about their motives and goals. Why, then, do government officials in the Western nations refrain from substantial penalties and political actions? Smotrich was penalized by the United Kingdom in the summer, but the impact of the penalty has been minimal. He may not be permitted to go to the United Kingdom and tour the London's entertainment district, but he still maintains the ministerial power to seize territories in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of sanctions, the British government emphasized they apply "in his personal capacity" only.

International Acknowledgment and Reality

If the British administration acknowledges the truth of settler violence and its grave consequences on Palestinian life, why does it still allow goods from settlements to be marketed in markets and shops in the UK? If Starmer is serious about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a state, how come he allow the Israeli government to violate its independence with such aggressive methods? Or was the acknowledgment an hollow tactic to silence dissenting voices in the UK, a meaningless gesture only to be realised in the rebranding of some maps?

Route Toward True Resolution

A fair resolution must respect the basic rights of the Palestinian population for self-determination, independence, and freedom from military occupation and blockade. Only when every person's worth between the river and Mediterranean Sea is respected can we genuinely say reconciliation has been achieved.

True peace requires an independent Palestinian state next to Israel: this is the sole formula that enjoises agreement among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace advocates.

The former US president may have inflicted influence on the Israeli leader to stop the violence, but he probably only did so because the strain of his connection with the isolated government of the Israeli PM had become excessive. The mass protests throughout the globe for the freedom of Palestine, and the persistent opposition protests inside the country, are the real factors behind this influence.

It is due to this massive civil movement that a truce has been signed, the captives released, and the residents of Gaza can experience safeguard from destruction. Following the ceasefire agreement has been finalized, it is crucial to keep applying this influence. The international community has ignored to the atrocities in the strip for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the occupied territories.