RAMALLAH, August 3, 2026 (WAFA) — Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Varsen Aghabekian Shahin said on Monday that violence by Israeli colonists is no longer merely a consequence of settlement expansion but has become its primary driving force.
Speaking at a press conference at the ministry's headquarters in Ramallah, Shahin said colonist violence has become a means of seizing Palestinian land, while colonist terrorism has evolved into a tool for systematic demographic change. She added that impunity for such acts has become official policy, supported by countries that continue supplying Israel with weapons, providing it with political backing, and using their veto power in the UN Security Council in its favor.
Shahin said colonist violence and settlement expansion are not separate phenomena but "two complementary pillars of Israel's illegal colonial project" aimed at seizing Palestinian land.
She rejected attempts to portray attacks by colonists as isolated acts committed by a small group of extremists, arguing that the scale, organization, and political backing of the attacks over the past three years point to a broader pattern.
The foreign minister also called for rejecting Israeli efforts to portray itself as the victim, saying Palestinians defending their families, homes and livelihoods are labeled as terrorists, while armed colonists responsible for killings, arson attacks and organized assaults are presented as victims deserving protection.
According to Shahin, this narrative seeks to criminalize the Palestinian people, shield perpetrators from accountability, and normalize policies that fundamentally contradict international law.
She stressed that under international humanitarian law, Israel, as the occupying power, bears primary legal responsibility for the safety and protection of Palestinian civilians living under its occupation. This obligation, she said, requires not only refraining from harming protected civilians but also preventing, stopping, investigating and prosecuting violence committed by colonists.
Shahin recalled that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, as affirmed by the International Court of Justice, UN Security Council Resolution 2334, and other international legal references. She said these rulings oblige states not to recognize the legality of the settlement enterprise or provide assistance that helps maintain it.
She argued that states must move beyond expressions of concern and adopt concrete measures to end impunity and protect Palestinians, warning that every day without decisive international action results in more deaths, further displacement, additional land seizure, and the entrenchment of an illegal situation that threatens prospects for a just and lasting peace.
The minister warned that failure to act immediately would not only encourage further colonist violence and accelerate Israel's annexation of occupied Palestinian territory but would also undermine the credibility of the international legal system.
She called for those responsible for organizing, financing, facilitating and carrying out colonist attacks to be held accountable, demanded the immediate disarmament of colonist militias, and urged the dismantling of Israel's illegal colonial project.
On the domestic level, Shahin stressed the importance of strengthening media efforts alongside legal and diplomatic action, unifying national efforts, and turning Palestinian steadfastness into a comprehensive national project encompassing political, legal, diplomatic and developmental tracks.
She also emphasized the need to continue calling for international protection for the Palestinian people and to uphold the right to resist the occupation through peaceful means.
Presenting official statistics, Shahin said 11,074 documented violations were committed in Palestine during the first half of 2026 by Israeli occupation forces and colonists, including 3,488 carried out by colonists.
According to the figures, the violations resulted in the killing of at least 86 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including at least 21 who were killed directly by colonists. The same period saw the displacement of 26 Bedouin communities and the establishment of 42 new colonial outposts, most of them pastoral.
She added that 4,379 dunums of Palestinian land were seized, 113 settlement master plans were prepared—71 in the occupied West Bank and 42 in occupied East Jerusalem—and Israeli authorities carried out 341 demolitions, destroying 740 structures.
The minister also said 45 attacks targeted mosques in the occupied West Bank, including the burning of five mosques and the demolition or partial destruction of five others.
According to the official data she cited, 45,195 trees were uprooted or damaged by Israeli occupation forces or colonists during the same period.
Shahin said the sharp rise in colonist violence reflected in these statistics underscores the profound impact of such attacks on Palestinians' ability to remain on their land, citing the loss of security and livelihoods, the psychological trauma inflicted on children and others, and the threat posed to the stability of local communities.
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