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October 17, 2025
- Settlers Establish New Outpost to Encircle Umm Al Kheir, Court Pauses Move-In
- Eviction Date Looms for Six Families Facing Displacement from Homes in Silwan
- As The Olive Harvest Starts, Settler Terrorism Reaches New Heights
- Israeli Commitment Against West Bank Annexation is Not in Final Ceasefire Deal
- International Crisis Group Report: “Sovereignty in All but Name: Israel’s Quickening Annexation of the West Bank”
- Bonus Reads
Settlers Establish New Outpost to Encircle Umm Al Kheir, Court Pauses Move-In
Two months ago, Israeli settlers began building yet another outpost surrounding the tiny Palestinian village of Umm al Khair in the South Hebron Hills, almost completing the encirclement of the 200 people who live in village by the Carmel settlement and its illegal outposts. The settlers cleared land and moved in caravans into the area, within spitting distance of Palestinian homes, as part of their years-long effort to expand their control of land in the area and compel/coerce the displacement of Umm al-Kheir. It was during the settlers illegal preparation of the land for this new outpost that Awdah Hathaleen, a prominent activist in the area and a protagonist in the critically acclaimed documentary No Other Land, was shot and killed by the internationally sanctioned settler Yinon Levy.
On October 12th, the Jerusalem District Court issued an order temporarily barred settlers’ from inhabiting the new outpost while the Court considers the underlying legal challenge which seeks to compel settlers to remove the caravans from the land. Settlers promptly violated the Court order, and moved more caravans into the area the very next day.
Peace Now said in a statement:
“For months, all enforcement authorities have known full well about the massive, blatantly illegal construction project taking place on the village’s land — and not only did they do nothing to stop it, they actually secured and assisted it in various ways. It is depressing and sad, though not surprising, that it takes a court order to make the army and the police do their duty. We hope the order will give the residents of Um al-Kheir, who are suffering under the settlers’ ongoing harassment, some space to breathe and live normal lives.”
Eviction Date Looms for Six Families Facing Displacement from Homes in Silwan
Six Palestinian families living in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem are facing an impending eviction date ordering them to vacate their longtime homes sometime between October 19 and November 4. If the families do not agree to their own displacement, Israeli police will remove them by force. At this point, all legal remedies have been exhausted and the Nasser, Rajabi, Shweiki, and Odeh families are set to be forcibly displaced under at the behest of Israeli settlers and the facilitation of Israeli legal courts, a system Ir Amim describes as: “proceedings [that] are underpinned by structural discrimination rooted in Jewish supremacy and a system rigged against Palestinians from the outset, which denies them equal access to justice.”
For more background on these cases, see Peace Now’s reporting.
Peace Now reports that 16 families have already been evicted from the Batan al-Hawa section of Silwan – 6 in this year alone – with settlers facilitating their displacement and taking up residence in the vacated homes. There are five additional cases affecting dozens of families that are at various stages in the Jerusalem Magistrate Court.
Peace Now said in a statement:
“This is a real emergency. If the government does not intervene, and if pressure is not brought to bear on it to act, we may witness in the coming weeks families literally thrown out into the street and settlers taking their place. This is a terrible injustice, based on discriminatory laws and on the ongoing exploitation and marginalization of East Jerusalem residents. The dispossession of Palestinians from their legally purchased homes in Silwan, under the guise of realizing a “right of return” for Jews, is an indelible stain on the State of Israel. The government can and must stop the forced expulsion of an entire community—the responsibility lies on its shoulders.”
As The Olive Harvest Starts, Settler Terrorism Reaches New Heights
The Palestinian olive harvest is now underway, and as in past years presents a massive target for violent settlers to terrorize Palestinians attempting to work their land – and in fact settler violence has rapidly increased from already high levels. Between 7 and 13 October, OCHA documented 71 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians, 36 of which were directly connected to the olive harvest. As a result of the documented attacks, 99 Palestinians were injured and 1 killed. These attacks have included:
- On October 8th settlers were throwing stones at Palestinian cars near the village of Deir Jarir, located near Ramallah. One Palestinian was shot and killed when settlers opened fire on a group of people who had gathered to chase off the stone-throwers. This is the 12th settler attack on Deir Jarir this year, according to OCHA.
- On October 9th, settlers raided the village of Atara, near Ramallah, damaging homes and cars. Settlers established a new outpost near Atara in August 2025, and have since used the outpost as a launching point to routinely attack Atara. OCHA has counted at least 8 attacks so far.
- On October 10th, settlers attacked the Palestinians harvesting olives near Beita, resulting in an injury to an AFP photographer. Settlers further seized harvesting equipment and burned 12 vehicles.
- On October 12th, settlers staged a large-scale attack on the village of Burqa during which they cut down over 800 fruit trees (including olive trees, citrus trees, and grapevines).
- On October 13th, settlers accompanied by Israeli forces attacked Beit Fajjar, near Bethlehem. Settlers assaulted a family of six which was attempting to harvest grapes, and later assaulted the emergency responders who came to assist the victims. Settlers used sticks, molotov cocktails and dogs to injure the family, and later burned their vehicle.
- On October 13th, settlers attacked the village of Ein Yabrud, near Ramallah, and burned down a house.
- On October 16th, the two different groups of Paelstinians harvesting olives near Burin were attacked by settlers from the Yitzhar settlement. The harvesters were chased off and their farming equipment was stolen.
Israeli Commitment Against West Bank Annexation is Not in Final Ceasefire Deal
According to leaked reports, an earlier version of the Trump ceasefire deal included a commitment that Israel would not annex the West Bank. Despite Trump’s press conference weeks before where he said publicly that he will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, ultimately the commitment was not included in the final ceasefire deal.
Nonetheless, The Times of Israel reports that the Knesset is set to reconvene from its summer break and immediately take up a few bills that would affect the annexation of the West Bank. A Knesset insider told The Times of Israel:
“there is a majority in the Knesset to annex today…The reason it’s not on the agenda is because Netanyahu has made it very clear that he’s not going to support anything of the sort. You can say it’s because of Trump. You can say it’s because of his own fear of global isolation or a regional war or whoever knows what it is that he’s thinking. But if there was a secret ballot in the Knesset today, a majority would definitely annex.”
The source further told the outlet that Netanyahu will find a way to postpone voting on the annexation bills, without outright opposing them, until the next election in October 2026.
International Crisis Group Report: “Sovereignty in All but Name: Israel’s Quickening Annexation of the West Bank”
The International Crisis Group (ICG) published a new report entitled, “Sovereignty in All but Name: Israel’s Quickening Annexation of the West Bank.” The report responds to European states offering recognition to the State of Palestine, a recognition with ICG calls a “strategy that should also have teeth,” taking seriously that “annexation is not a future threat – it is already under way.” The report urges international actors to do what they can to “halt the further consolidation of Israel’s annexation and to begin the difficult work of persuading Israel to reverse course.”
The Executive summary of the report ends:
“The impediments to a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict are longstanding and immense, and a body of informed commentary argues that they are indeed insurmountable. Perhaps they are, but there is no world in which the further progress of annexation will produce a better result for the Palestinian people – or, for that matter, for Israelis. Israel may never alter its posture in the West Bank, but if outside actors play a long game and act concertedly, they will optimise their chances of changing its behaviour. Absent that, the status quo, which denies the Palestinian people not just a state, but also basic rights, will only become further entrenched.”
Bonus Reads
- “Sweeping Israeli actions transform West Bank in shadow of Gaza war” (Washington Post, 9/28/25)
- “Ben-Gvir’s Aide Suspected of Preventing Weapon Seizure of Settler Who Shot at Palestinians” (Haaretz, 9/29/25)
- “Israel detains two Palestinian children in Hebron under claims of ‘espionage‘” (Middle East Eye, 10/1/25)
- “The Trump-Netanyahu Peace Deal Promises Indefinite Occupation” (The Intercept, 10/1/25)
- “Israeli bulldozers in West Bank carve up hopes for Palestinian state” (Reuters, 10/2/25)
- “Bureaucratic Antics for Three West Bank Villages Show How an Israeli Annexation Began Long Ago” (Haaretz, 10/12/25)
- “At This West Bank Checkpoint, ‘It’s Not Just Movement That’s Blocked. It’s Time Itself’” (Haaretz, 10/13/2025)
- “Israeli settlements close in on West Bank herding community” (Al-Monitor, 10/10/25)
- “Despite war’s end, Smotrich calls for renewed Jewish settlement in Gaza” (Ynet, 10/14/25)