Israeli authorities detained nine people at a Tel Aviv protest organised by Hadash and allied groups amid increasing attacks in the occupied West Bank. [GETTY]
Israeli police arrested nine people during a protest in Tel Aviv against settler violence in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, as tensions mounted following a deadly attack in the Palestinian town of Tal that left four Palestinian residents dead.
According to Israeli media, hundreds of demonstrators gathered on Kaplan Street to protest against settler violence and Israeli military rule in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The rally was organised by the left-wing Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) party and its allies.
“We organized the Tel Aviv demonstration because we refuse to remain silent while state-sanctioned settler terror and government escalation ignite the occupied West Bank,” Israeli politician Ofer Cassif, who has represented Hadash since 2019, told The New Arab.
The protest group Mothers Against Violence Israel (MAVIsrael) said more than 200 people attended the demonstration and accused police of using force against participants, including the nine people who were arrested.
Israeli media, citing police, reported that the demonstration had taken place without authorisation and that protesters had begun to “disrupt public order and block the roadway”.
Police also alleged those detained had taken part in an “illegal protest”.
“The police have increasingly become a politicized militia that shields violent settlers while using brutal force to silence peaceful citizens protesting for human rights,” Cassif told The New Arab.
“The arrest of nine demonstrators in Tel Aviv is a blatant attempt to criminalize dissent and protect government-backed extremism.”
Cassif, a member of the Israeli Knesset, said Saturday’s protest reflected changing public attitudes within Israel towards settler violence, following a series of incidents this year in which dozens of Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more injured, according to figures from the UN and the Palestinian Authority.
“Mainstream political and media discourse continues to whitewash state aggression. However, video evidence makes it harder to deny the truth,” Cassif said.
“A growing, courageous joint Jewish-Arab camp realizes that settler violence is not a ‘fringe issue’—it is a core tool of state policy designed to dispossess Palestinians.”
The demonstration took place a day after a group of armed Israeli settlers entered the Palestinian town of Tal, near the illegal settlement of Havat Gilad, and attempted to force their way into two homes.
Residents confronted the settlers before Israeli forces killed four Palestinians.
Two Israelis, including a security coordinator from Havat Gilad, were also killed during the confrontation.
Videos shared online appeared to show a Palestinian man taking a rifle from one of the settlers and shooting him before Israeli soldiers shot the resident dead.
Three other Palestinians were killed and four wounded .
In response to Friday’s incident, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a large-scale military operation across the occupied West Bank.
Israeli forces arrested nearly 50 Palestinians in Tal and raided around 70 homes.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said at least 80 Palestinians were detained across the occupied West Bank the following day, describing the arrests as “collective punishment”.
Meanwhile, funerals for the four Palestinians killed in Tal were held before dawn with tight restrictions on attendance.
Early on Sunday, Israeli settlers attacked several Palestinian villages across the occupied West Bank, setting fire to two mosques and spray-painting graffiti on buildings.
The Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank including the area where Friday’s violence occurred, described the attacks as part of a broader campaign against Palestinians.
“Israeli state-backed settler terrorism is intensifying into systematic pogroms across the occupied West Bank,” the Palestinian Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on X.
“Settler terror does not happen in a vacuum; it is armed, funded, protected by the [Israeli military], and politically championed by government ministers,” Cassif told The New Arab.
“The state is a full accomplice and driver of this violence.”
Several members of Netanyahu’s government, including far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have advocated annexing the occupied West Bank while rejecting the creation of a Palestinian state and supporting the continued expansion of Israeli settlements.
Violence in the occupied West Bank has intensified since the outbreak of the genocidal Gaza war in October 2023
According to Palestinian officials, at least 1,097 Palestinians have since been killed by Israeli forces or settlers.
“Occupation and settler terror bring bloodshed and moral destruction to everyone. Real security for anyone will never be achieved through oppression,” Cassif told The New Arab.
“The only path forward is ending the occupation, stopping settler terror, and recognizing Palestinian rights to self-determination.”
