West Bank settler violence – a photo essay

A recent Human Rights Watch report says settler violence in the occupied West Bank has doubled since the 7 October attacks. Photographer David Lombeida stayed with Palestinian families facing threats and abuse from settlers encroaching on their land

Violence in the occupied West Bank was already at a more than 15-year high in 2023, with 200 Palestinians and 26 Israelis killed, but since Hamas unleashed the deadliest day in Israel’s history on 7 October it has surged in parallel with the war in Gaza.

Since that date 260 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, including in raids by the Israeli military against suspected militants, and by extremist settlers – whose daily attacks against Palestinians have more than doubled in the last two months, UN data shows. The international community has issued strong statements to the Israeli government that it must protect Palestinians from attacks by extremist settlers.

Manel Shahada lives in the small village of Qusra, outside Ramallah in the West Bank. Settlements have surrounded her land over the decades and settlers recently attacked her home with her family inside. Shahada stares out the broken window where settlers shot through the glass. She and her three children have now abandoned the home after the attack.