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Last Monday, amid a combined address by American leader Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, colleague lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a sign urging the recognition of the Palestinian state. We were violently removed from the legislative assembly, revealing the fragile condition of what's frequently described as the "sole democratic state in the Middle East". How can officials talk about regional peace while refusing to recognize a population denied of basic freedoms and rights under long-standing military control?

The Situation in the Occupied West Bank

Nowhere is the hypocrisy more apparent than in the occupied West Bank. There, words of peace seem distant and faint, while the frightening sounds of colonist attacks and terror continue loudly. Over 30 incidents of settler aggression against Palestinian civilians have been documented since the unveiling of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in September's end, including physical assaults, stealing of agricultural produce, and torching of vehicles and property.

Systematic Violence During Harvest Season

The rise in violence by colonists is not coincidental. This period signals the beginning of agricultural harvesting. Beyond a crucial economic activity, it constitutes an significant social and national occasion that demonstrates resilience under military rule. Exactly for these reasons, year after year colonists target Palestinian farmers during this precious time. During the last year's agricultural season, rights groups documented 113 separate incidents of aggression, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or damage to olive groves and produce by Israeli civilians and military personnel, which took place on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian communities, towns, and areas.

Israel's security forces seemed to have had a larger role in hindering the olive harvest

The human rights group also discovered that "Israel's security forces appeared to have played a greater role in hindering the harvesting season". In about 70% of cases where entry to lands was forcibly prevented, troops, border police officers, and settler civilian security coordinators were physically on site. They either directly prevented Palestinian farmers from accessing and harvesting their property, or neglected to prevent colonists who harassed or assaulted them.

Government Support for Settler Activities

This comes as no surprise, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra minister in the Defense Ministry responsible for the territorial coordination unit. In Umm al-Khair, for example, a particular COGAT unit uprooted personally-owned olive plants of local residents, claiming missing documentation, but overlooked infractions by an illegal adjacent settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to stop all building work in the encampment, which was constructed on property taken by Israeli authorities and unlawfully given to settlers.

Annexation Ambitions and International Reaction

In the occupied West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a tool used by the government to achieve practical incorporation. Recently, Smotrich headed a march of thousands of settlers in support of taking over the West Bank. He was quoted as stating, "We persist to establish presence with our feet of the Land of Israel with many settlers, numerous champions, and countless of settlers who reside in this area of the territory ... we need to normalise it and establish it permanently."

The settlers and their backers in the parliament are explicit about their motives and goals. Why, then, do political leaders in the Western nations hesitate from meaningful sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was penalized by the United Kingdom in the summer, but the impact of the sanction has been minimal. He may not be able to travel to the UK and visit the West End, but he still maintains the ministerial power to take territories in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of penalties, the British government emphasized they apply "in his personal capacity" solely.

Global Recognition and Reality

If the British administration acknowledges the reality of settler violence and its serious consequences on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow settlement produce to be marketed in stores and outlets in Britain? If the British leader is serious about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how come he permit the Israeli administration to breach its independence with such violent means? Or was the recognition an empty tactic to shut down opposition in the United Kingdom, a hollow act only to be realised in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Pathway to True Resolution

A fair resolution must respect the basic entitlements of the Palestinian people for self-determination, sovereignty, and liberty from occupation and siege. Only when every human being's worth between the river and sea is honored can we truly say peace has been achieved.

True peace demands an independent Palestinian state next to Israel: this is the only solution that has agreement among the international community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace advocates.

Trump may have applied influence on Netanyahu to halt the genocide, but he probably only did so because the strain of his connection with the isolated government of Netanyahu had become excessive. The large demonstrations across the globe for the liberation of Palestine, and the persistent anti-government demonstrations within Israel, are the real factors behind this pressure.

It is thanks to this massive public campaign that a ceasefire has been agreed, the hostages freed, and the residents of Gaza can experience safeguard from destruction. After the ceasefire agreement has been finalized, it is crucial to keep applying this pressure. The international community has turned a blind eye to the violence in Gaza for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the West Bank.