“Wake up Italians“, wake up Italians!, and from there the chaos. The story of the Italian volunteers of the international solidarity mission “Faz3a”, redefines the dramatic picture in a forgotten West Bank.
Here, in recent hours, an attack by Israeli settlers hit the community of Ein al-Duyuk, near Jericho. Three Italian activists and one Canadian were attacked by a group of settlers, masked and armed to the core. All in zone A, where by law, including the Oslo agreements, there should be no Israeli presence.
Instead, according to what was reported by the Palestinian agency Wafa, there were about ten Israeli settlers who broke into the house where the volunteers were sleeping, hit them in the face, genitals and ribs and took away their personal objects, including passports and telephones.
This is not an isolated case
The associations and NGOs that operate in those areas denounce it: in the West Bank this violence is not a marginal incident, but part of a planned dynamic. In many rural areas, the daily life of Palestinians is being made progressively impossible: land made inaccessible, houses demolished, villages emptied. A slow but constant strategy that pushes communities to abandon the lands they have lived on for generations.
Entire portions of territory are declared “protected natural areas” or “military zones“, not to preserve the environment or for security reasons, but to prevent access to Palestinian shepherds and farmers. Depriving these communities of the possibility of living off their land means attacking their identity, rural culture, and their connection with the environment.
Meanwhile, attacks by settlers are on the rise. It’s not just physical violence: it’s the effect of a system that rarely brings these actions to justice. Over 90% of attacks never reach trial. In some cases, the army assists without intervening; in others, it provides direct protection during assaults. The creation of “security squads” made up of settlers and the distribution of weapons reinforce a dangerous idea: acting without consequences.
Added to this daily pressure is administrative pressure. Demolition orders hit homes and essential structures, making subsistence increasingly difficult. Over the years, dozens of Bedouin communities have had to leave their lands, not by choice, but because every day it became unsustainable.
The war that cannot be seen
Since October 7, 2023, over 800 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank. While international attention remains focused elsewhere, the colonies are expanding more and more, in defiance of international law. Some outposts built without authorization are now regularized retroactively, transforming them into new colonies.
Even those who try to help – international volunteers, observers, people documenting the facts on the ground – have ended up in the crosshairs. It is like wanting to prevent not only the existence of Palestinian communities, but also their testimony.
What happens in the West Bank affects everyone: because every human and natural ecosystem taken away from life is a permanent wound on the earth.
Meanwhile in Gaza
People are still dying in the Gaza Strip, despite the “ceasefire”. As Emergency states, bombings remain frequent and continue to occur along the so-called “yellow line”, which delimits the areas of the Strip – approximately 53% of the territory – forbidden to civilians by the Israeli army.
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Military attacks continue to cause civilian victims, including children, especially in the central areas of Deir al Balah, Khan Younis and Gaza City. But the world seems to have forgotten about it.
Sources: Wafa /Emergency
