(MENAFN) Israeli police investigations into attacks by illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank have sharply declined, even as complaints from Palestinians continue to rise, according to media reports.

Data cited by Haaretz shows that 427 complaints were filed in the first half of 2025 concerning settler attacks, compared with 680 complaints filed throughout 2024. Despite this increase, only 144 criminal investigations were opened between January and June, representing roughly 33% of total complaints, down from 308 investigations—or about 45%—in 2024. Most cases involved property damage, assault, arson, and stone-throwing tied to nationalist motives.

The number of settlers arrested for nationalist crimes also remained low, with just 44 arrests reported in the first half of 2025, compared with 71 in all of 2024. Haaretz noted that the West Bank Central Unit, responsible for investigating settler terrorism and nationalist crimes, has been without a permanent commander for nearly a year. The previous commander, Avishai Mualem, was reassigned following an investigation into allegations that he ignored intelligence on settler attacks and avoided arrests, reportedly to “please National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to obtain a promotion.”

Settler attacks have reportedly intensified since mid-October with the start of the olive harvest season. The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission estimates that over 7,000 attacks on Palestinians and their property have occurred in the West Bank since Israel began its war on Gaza in October 2023, including 158 incidents targeting olive pickers this month alone.

Meanwhile, the Knesset recently approved in a preliminary reading a bill to annex the West Bank, a move that could end prospects for a two-state solution. In July, the International Court of Justice ruled Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

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