A few days ago, the village of Kafr Malik, northeast of Ramallah, witnessed yet another wave of brutal attacks by illegal Israeli settlers against unarmed Palestinians, all under the protection of the Israeli military.

Settler mobs attacked homes, set fire to vehicles and private property, and killed three Palestinians - a dangerous escalation in settler violence that many are describing as the “Palestinian Kristallnacht,” referring to the 1938 Nazi pogrom against Jews when synagogues were burned, businesses destroyed, and civilians terrorised.

For Palestinians, however, such violence is not new. Settler attacks and army-backed assaults have been part of daily life for decades, but they have ramped up dramatically since October 7, 2023, when the latest war on Gaza began and settler violence surged across the occupied West Bank. 

Human rights groups and UN agencies have reported an unprecedented spike in armed settler attacks, land seizures, and killings in the months since, under the cover of wartime distraction.

The attack coincided with alarming remarks by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on June 26 regarding the Al-Aqsa Mosque. He advocated imposing an Israeli-controlled "status quo" that includes the possibility of Jewish ritual prayer - a symbolic attack aimed at undermining the legal framework of the holy site. 

The manoeuvre is much more than a religious statement; it signals that the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa is under review, just as Israeli settlements challenge Palestinian land rights.

These violations, backed by the military, reflect the government's clear intention to expand........

© TRT World