Israeli West Bank settler tells BBC attacks on Palestinians are justified as revenge
A resident of the Israeli settler outpost of Havat Gilad told the BBC that recent attacks on nearby Palestinian villages were justified as revenge for the death of an Israeli security guard. His remarks, including calls for mass killing, reflect extreme views rejected by many Israelis but illustrate tensions surrounding expanding settlements and rising violence in the occupied West Bank.
The violence followed a confrontation in Tal last Friday, in which the guard, four Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed; the initial cause remains disputed. Havat Gilad, established more than 20 years ago, is an unauthorised outpost under Israeli planning rules, while both Israeli settlements and outposts in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law; Peace Now says much of its land is privately owned by Palestinians.
- Settler defended attacks on Palestinian villages as revenge.
- Five people died in a disputed confrontation near Tal.
- Settlement expansion remains a major source of West Bank tension.
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The West Bank is a territory captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and home to about three million Palestinians, alongside Israeli settlements. Palestinians seek the West Bank as part of a future independent state, while Israel maintains military control over much of the area and says settlements have security, historical and other importance.
Israeli settlements are communities built for Israeli citizens in the West Bank; most of the international community considers them illegal under international law, a view Israel disputes. Smaller settler outposts are often built without full Israeli authorisation, and disputes over land, security operations and access to roads and farmland have contributed to recurrent violence involving Palestinians, settlers and Israeli forces.