The Israeli military itself documented a total of 867 attacks by settlers on Palestinians in 2025. The perpetrators are rarely convicted.
Violence by radical settlers in the West Bank is increasing. Not only human rights organizations and the United Nations say this – but now also the Israeli military. The figures were published by Israeli media, among others Times of Israel, published. According to this, there was an increase in so-called “nationalist crimes” of 27 percent in 2025. The military and the Shin Bet secret service counted exactly 867 incidents, which is around 2.4 cases per day. In 2024 there were a total of 682 cases.
The numbers show a clear trend – especially when you look back at the data from 2019 to 2021: At that time, the Israeli authorities registered between 340 and 450 cases per year. The trend is even clearer for particularly serious crimes such as arson and armed robberies: these have increased by more than 50 percent since 2024.
The military points to a group of about 300 extremist settlers living in illegal outposts. An anonymous officer told the newspaper Ha’aretz However, the attacks depended on the increasing number of illegal ones Israeli farms in the West Bank together. Around 100 have been created since October 7, 2023.
Arson and armed robberies have increased by more than 50 percent since 2024
The current, right-wing government is often accused of turning a blind eye to outposts that are illegal even under Israeli law. She also drives the Actively expanding settlements that are legal under Israeli law and illegal under international law. It has also subsequently legalized several outposts – even those from which, according to activists, violence against Palestinians has arisen.
Significantly fewer Palestinian terrorist attacks
Critics and NGOs also accuse Israeli security authorities of not doing enough to combat Israeli terrorism. Violent settlers are rarely convicted. There are now interim injunctions pending against 39 of them, but these have so far had little effect.
In addition, administrative detention for Israelis was de facto abolished last year, while it remains in place for Palestinians. Palestinian violence in the West Bank follows the opposite path to that of Israel: According to the military, there were only 57 terrorist attacks in 2025, 258 in 2024 and even 847 in 2023.
The IDF’s numbers differ from those of the United Nations. There can be several reasons for this: On the one hand, Palestinians have a high inhibition threshold when it comes to reporting Israelis to the Israeli authorities. On the other hand, the IDF repeatedly accuses the UN figures of containing unverified reports and double-counting incidents.
Together for a free press
As a cooperative, we belong to our readers. And our journalism is not only 100% non-corporate, but also accessible free of charge. We make all articles freely available, without a paywall. Especially in these times, classifications and information must be accessible to everyone. Our readers don’t have to pay anything, but they know that critical, independent journalism doesn’t emerge from nothing. We are very grateful for that. So that we can continue to do our journalism tomorrow, we need more support. Our next goal: 50,000 – and with your participation we can do it. Set an example for the taz and for the future of our journalism. With just 5 euros you are there!
Support now