JAKARTA - Israeli authorities were directly involved in settler attacks that have killed, injured and displaced Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, while Israeli security forces provided protection to the settlers, a UN investigation said on Tuesday.
A report by the Palestinian Occupied Territories Investigative Commission found that Israeli authorities have enabled settler attacks through financial and military support, in a climate of impunity fostered by the judiciary and law enforcement.
Launching Al Arabiya from Reuters, Wednesday (10/6), the report said that Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian villages and farmland have increased since 2023, up 130 percent, including incidents involving masked groups of attackers.
Israeli security forces routinely accompany the settlers and act as a shield for the violence, the report said.
At least seven Palestinians were killed and 832 wounded last year, with violence continuing into 2026 in the form of attacks that occur almost daily, according to the United Nations.
"The increasing participation of Israeli security forces in settler attacks is tantamount to the collapse of the distinction between settlers and soldiers de facto," the report's findings said.
The report states that violence has been used to advance state policies, including illegal occupation, expulsion of Palestinians, and annexation of Palestinian territory.
The commission also documented cases of attacks, abductions, and harassment of Palestinian children by settlers.
In one incident on April 19, 2025, a 12-year-old girl and her three-year-old brother were abducted at knifepoint, dragged into an olive grove, and tied to a tree with plastic rope until their family intervened.
The commission also stated that settlers commit or threaten sexual violence to instill fear and harass Palestinian women.
"The relentless and daily attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians cannot be tolerated - and must end," said commission head S. Muralidhar.
He also urged the international community to pressure Israel to dismantle settlements and outposts and curb violence.
Despite periodic condemnations and the dismantling of several unauthorized outposts, Israeli authorities have not taken sustained action to stop the attacks, the report said.
Israel's mission to the U.N. in Geneva rejected the report's findings, accusing the body of drawing "a false moral equivalence" between Hamas militants and Israeli civilians, and relying on what it called unfounded allegations.
It said Israeli authorities, including the president and prime minister, have repeatedly condemned violence against Palestinians.
The Israeli army said its mission was to maintain security and conduct counter-terrorism operations, that it condemned "all forms of violence that undermine security," and that any alleged violations by Israeli soldiers were thoroughly reviewed.
Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups say such investigations rarely lead to punishment.
Separately, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, a body recognized by the United Nations as the representative of the Palestinians, Wassel Abu Yousef told Reuters, the report "reflects the extent of the violence committed by settlers against our people." He called for actions such as sanctions in response.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Hamas.
The report also found that the Palestinian militant group Hamas had committed war crimes against Palestinians and Israelis.
The report expressed his deep concern over the serious violations he documented in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
The commission found Hamas-affiliated forces involved in at least 60 of 249 documented cases of executions and severe physical violence in 2024-25, including beatings with metal pipes and bone fractures as punishment for alleged collaboration with Israel or looting of aid.
The commission also found that the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas and other armed groups, which killed 1,200 people and involved hostage-taking and destruction of property, was a war crime.
The attack triggered an Israeli offensive on Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and destroyed much of the territory.
It is known that hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers live among millions of Palestinians in the land Israel seized in the 1967 war.
Most countries consider such settlements to be a violation of international law, a position upheld in a 2024 ruling by the U.N. top court.
Israel denies this, citing a historical and biblical bond with the land.
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