According to the report, most of the opened cases were related to property damage, assault, arson “with nationalist motives” and stone-throwing incidents in the West Bank.

Israeli police investigations into attacks by illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank have fallen significantly despite a surge in complaints filed by Palestinians this year, Haaretz reported on Monday.

Citing police data obtained under a freedom of information request, the paper said that 427 complaints “about nationalist crime against Palestinians” were filed in the first half of 2025, “compared with 680 complaints filed in all of 2024.”

However, only 144 criminal investigations were opened between January and June, “just a third of the complaints filed by Palestinians about Jewish nationalist crime,” down from 308 investigations (about 45 percent) in 2024.

For the second week, Palestinian farmers are being blocked, harassed and arrested as they try to undertake the annual olive harvest on their own lands. Israeli soldier and settler violence in the occupied West Bank has surged since the war on Gaza began in October 2023. pic.twitter.com/H0nVzA3CzE

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 26, 2025

Most of the opened cases were related to property damage, assault, arson “with nationalist motives” and stone-throwing incidents, the report stated.

It also cited a small increase in the number of settlers arrested on suspicion of nationalist crimes in 2025, with only 44 arrests reported in the first half of the year, down from 71 arrests in all of 2024.

‘Trying to Please’ Ben-Gvir

The paper said the West Bank Central Unit, responsible for investigating settler terrorism and nationalist crimes, has been operating without a permanent commander for nearly a year.

It noted that the unit’s previous commander, Avishai Mualem, was transferred from his post after an investigation was opened against him “for deliberately ignoring intelligence about Jewish terrorism events and far-right activists” and avoiding their arrest.

‘Emerging from the Jaws of Death’ – Settler Violence Ravages Palestine’s Olive Harvest

“He is suspected of trying to please National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to obtain a promotion,” Haaretz said.

“The increase in the number of complaints filed with the police, compared with the small number of indictments, demonstrates more than anything the work of the police under Minister Ben Gvir and the unwillingness to fight Jewish terrorism,” the Movement for Freedom of Information CEO Advocate Hiddai Negev reportedly said.

He attributed the situation to “a broader and more serious moral failure” increasing within the police force.

Over 7,000 Attacks in Two Years

The daily noted a significant increase in settler attacks in the occupied West Bank since the start of the olive harvest season in mid-October.

A recent report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) indicated that settlers carried out 71 attacks against Palestinians across the occupied West Bank in one week, from October 7 to 13.

According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, illegal Israeli settlers have carried out more than 7,000 attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, the Anadolu news agency reported. These include 158 assaults targeting olive pickers since the beginning of this month.

Illegal Settlers Launched 71 West Bank Attacks in One Week – UN Report 

Last week, the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) approved in a preliminary reading a bill to annex the West Bank, a move that, if implemented, would eliminate the possibility of a two-state solution.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

(PC, AA)