Jerusalem – Illegal Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank is expanding, with violent settler groups leading escalating attacks on Palestinians and their property. These groups, motivated by hard-line religious and nationalist ideology, aim to expand settlements, expel Palestinians, and assert dominance over areas they refer to as “Judea and Samaria,” the West Bank.

Following Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from the Gush Katif settlements in Gaza, many settlers joined the Youth for the Land of Israel movement before dispersing into various groups including Nahala, led by Daniella Weiss and Rabbi Moshe Levinger, the Torah Core in Hebrew Cities movement led by Meir Bertler, and the Land of Israel and Derech Chaim movements led by Rabbis Avraham Sigron and Yitzhak Ginsburgh.

By the end of 2020, the organisation Peace Now reported that these groups had established 170 settlement outposts with support from the West Bank Settlements Council. More recently, the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission noted that settlers established 42 new outposts in the first half of 2026, including four in Area B, which is under Palestinian Authority administration according to the Oslo Accords.

The Israeli government approved 34 new settlements during the first half of 2026, bringing the total approved since the current government took office to 104. This has been described as an accelerating effort to reshape the settlement map across the West Bank.

The so-called Guard Teams, composed of settlers in military uniforms, emerged after the outbreak of the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023. These teams appeared following the Israeli government’s expansion of security formations in settlements and the arming of thousands of settlers, a move led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who stated the aim was to strengthen settlement security.

Israeli authorities have faced criticism over accountability for members of these formations, with investigative responsibility often shifting between police and military prosecution, resulting in many investigations being closed or unresolved, according to the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din.

Despite differences in structure and methods, these settler groups share the goal of entrenching settler presence, forcing Palestinians from their land, and obstructing political processes that could limit settlement growth, which is considered illegal under international law.

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