Politicians in Israel have shown no appetite for curbing attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, as even left-wing figures have sided with Israeli settlers involved in violence.
The West Bank has witnessed some of its worst violence in months.
A deadly incident last week was prompted by a group of armed Israelis entering the Palestinian village of Tell, near Nablus.
Four Palestinians were killed, all from the same family, and two Israelis, both soldiers. Details are still emerging about how events unfolded, but the Israeli army reportedly suspects that one of the Israeli soldiers, Yuval Ezra, was killed not by Palestinians but by friendly fire. Farouk Ramadan, one of the Palestinians killed, had grabbed the gun of Benayahu Mellet, the second Israeli soldier, and shot him dead.
The uncertainty surrounding the case did not stop Israeli politicians almost unanimously labelling it as a clear-cut terrorist attack committed by Palestinians against Israelis. The military announced an “extensive” military operation in the occupied West Bank. There followed several revenge attacks by settlers that injured Palestinian residents.
The army’s initial assertion was that the violence started with an “unco-ordinated hike” by a group of Israeli settlers. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called it a “massacre” at the hands of Israelis.
Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, whose coalition has members who call for the destruction and displacement of Palestinian communities, has previously claimed that “150 or so juvenile delinquents” are driving violence in the West Bank and have nothing to do with the mainstream “settler community, which condemns them”.
In episodes of violence that have escalated since the Gaza war began in 2023, Israeli settlers frequently storm into Palestinian communities and attack people and property, often under the protection or even with the participation of Israel’s military. The area of last Friday's killings is a hotspot for such violence, including arson attacks.
The response from Israel’s government was swift. Mr Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said: “The security forces must be allowed to act freely and with full force against terrorism.” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the village of Tell should look like refugee camps entirely destroyed by Israeli forces.
The same went for Israel’s opposition. Former prime minister and election front-runner Naftali Bennett, who used to lead an umbrella group representing settlements, said the two Israelis were “murdered in a terrorist attack”.
Bias towards settlers from this side of Israeli politics is to be expected. In a sign of how far Palestinians are from a solution to the violence, so did many Israeli politicians who describe themselves as the most liberal.
Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats and a former general, who is considered left-wing in Israel, sent condolences to the Israeli dead and said “terror must be struck with a harsh military hand, with determination and without compromise”.
The dismay from the tiny number of Israelis who now make up the country’s pro-peace left was swift and damning. Author Gideon Levy, in an article in the newspaper Haaretz entitled “Yair Golan is just another ultranationalist Israeli general,” wrote: “In sending consolations only to the families of the dead and injured Jews, Golan left no room for doubt: the strong military arm he advocates should be turned only against what he called Palestinian terror.”
The attack has already been overtaken by other news, as Israel accuses Hezbollah of breaking the ceasefire in southern Lebanon, tension with Iran remains high and Mr Netanyahu wraps up a US visit to meet President Donald Trump.
More details may yet emerge from the Israeli military about how it believes the attack came about and how six people ended up being killed. But in Israeli politics, the narrative already appears set, no matter what facts are later established.
