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Last Monday, during a combined address by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, colleague lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner calling for the recognition of the Palestinian state. We were violently ejected from the parliamentary assembly, revealing the weak state of what's often portrayed as the "sole democratic state in the Middle East". How can officials talk about Middle East peace while refusing to acknowledge a people denied of fundamental freedoms and entitlements under long-standing occupation?

The Situation in the Occupied West Bank

Nowhere is the deceit more evident than in the controlled West Bank. There, talk of peace sound remote and faint, while the frightening sounds of settler violence and intimidation continue loudly. More than 30 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinian civilians have been recorded since the unveiling of the US 20-point plan in late September, including attacks, stealing of crops, and torching of vehicles and belongings.

Targeted Aggression During Harvest Season

The rise in settler terrorism is deliberate. This period marks the start of harvest seasons. More than a crucial economic activity, it constitutes an significant communal and cultural moment that demonstrates resilience under occupation. Precisely for these reasons, annually settlers target Palestinians throughout this precious time. During the 2024 harvest season, rights groups recorded 113 separate cases of violence, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or destruction to olive groves and produce by Israeli civilians and soldiers, which occurred on lands owned by 51 Palestinian communities, municipalities, and communities.

Israeli security forces appeared to have played a larger role in obstructing the harvesting season

The human rights group also discovered that "Israel's security forces appeared to have had a larger part in obstructing the harvesting season". In about 70% of instances where access to lands was violently blocked, troops, border police officers, and settlement security officials were physically on site. They either directly stopped Palestinian farmers from accessing and gathering their property, or failed to prevent colonists who harassed or assaulted them.

Government Support for Settler Activities

This comes as no surprise, as the head of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an extra minister in the Ministry of Defence responsible for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for example, a special COGAT unit removed personally-owned olive trees of Palestinians, claiming lack of permits, but ignored violations by an unauthorized nearby colonist encampment. Last week, the local court decided to stop all construction in the encampment, which was constructed on lands taken by Israel and illegally given to colonists.

Annexation Goals and Global Reaction

In the occupied West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a instrument used by the administration to pursue de-facto incorporation. Recently, Smotrich headed a march of thousands of settlers in support of taking over the West Bank. He was quoted as saying, "We are continuing to establish presence with our presence of the territory with numerous pioneers, many heroes, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who live in this part of the territory ... we must to normalise it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their backers in the Knesset are explicit about their intentions and intentions. Why, then, do government officials in the west hesitate from substantial penalties and political actions? Smotrich was penalized by the United Kingdom in June, but the effect of the sanction has been minimal. He may not be permitted to travel to the UK and visit the London's entertainment district, but he still enjoys the ministerial power to seize lands in the West Bank. Even in the declaration of sanctions, the UK highlighted they take place "personally" only.

Global Acknowledgment and Actual Situation

If the UK government recognizes the truth of colonist aggression and its grave implications on Palestinian life, why does it still allow goods from settlements to be sold in markets and outlets in Britain? If the British leader is genuine about recognition of Palestine as a state, how come he permit the Israeli administration to violate its independence with such violent means? Or was the recognition an hollow ploy to silence opposition in the United Kingdom, a hollow gesture only to be realised in the relabeling of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward Genuine Resolution

A just resolution must respect the basic entitlements of the Palestinian population for self-recognition, sovereignty, and freedom from occupation and siege. Only when each person's worth between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea is respected can we genuinely say reconciliation has been attained.

True peace requires an independent Palestinian nation alongside the Israeli state: this is the sole solution that has agreement among the international community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace advocates.

The former US president may have applied pressure on Netanyahu to stop the genocide, but he probably only did so because the burden of his connection with the pariah regime of the Israeli PM had become excessive. The large demonstrations across the world for the liberation of Palestinian territories, and the unwavering anti-government protests inside Israel, are the real factors behind this influence.

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