What about Qusra? Katz boasted about curbing Palestinian terror in the West Bank - and ignored an important detail
Defense Minister Israel Katz boasted about a dramatic decline in the number of Palestinian terror attacks in Judea and Samaria, but ignored the sharp rise in settler violence. According to an INSS report, in 2024 about 362 Palestinians were harmed by settler violence, in 2025 the number rose to 832, and in 2026 about 570 injuries were recorded with four months left in the year. Recent events in the village of Sa'ir and in Qusra illustrate the escalation.
Defense Minister Israel Katz boasted today at a security assessment at Central Command about a dramatic decline in the number of Palestinian terror attacks in Judea and Samaria, which he called "an amazing thing." According to data presented, in May 2024 there were 24 attacks, in May 2025 five, and in the last May only two. However, Katz omitted a key detail: the sharp rise in settler violence. According to an INSS report, in 2024 about 362 Palestinians were harmed by settler violence, in 2025 the number rose to 832, and in 2026 about 570 injuries were recorded with four months left in the year. Recent events illustrate the escalation: on Friday, a violent clash broke out in the village of Sa'ir in eastern Gush Etzion, in which 17-year-old Karim Shalaldeh was killed by fire from a security coordinator, and a building was set on fire by settlers. Meanwhile, in the village of Qusra, settlers from the "Tel Talpiot" outpost laid siege to homes, cut off electricity and water, and the IDF that arrived to evacuate them encountered clashes. According to a Yesh Din report, about two-thirds of settler violence incidents occurred in Areas A and B, alongside an increase in Jewish settlement there. The article notes that unauthorized hikes endanger participants and divert forces from security missions, and that last July two soldiers fell in a similar incident in the village of Tel.