Kobar, Occupied West Bank \u2014\u00a0In the town of Kobar, northwest of Ramallah, a settler known to locals as \u201cGhazal\u201d has been attacking Palestinian farmers, they allege, part of an ongoing Israeli pogrom in the West Bank targeting Palestinians.<\/p>\n
Bassema Khader, 63, whose family owns a farm in the al-Daak area, recognised him even when he arrived wearing a mask.<\/p>\n
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\u201cA settler known as \u2018Ghazal\u2019 has been coming to the area for a long time, wearing an army uniform to intimidate people,\u201d Khader told Al Jazeera. \u201cBut the residents weren\u2019t afraid and continued to hold on to their land.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost every day, he would fire shots and steal sheep and solar panels. He would approach cars, knock on the doors, and demand the keys, claiming he was from the army and saying, \u2018I am army\u2019,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
When Khader confronted him as he attempted to steal her sheep, he called for backup.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me: \u2018Wait, the [Israeli] Border Police are coming.\u2019 And they did. With their help, he took all the sheep and brought them to the settlement,\u201d Khader recounted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal is to steal, to frighten and terrorise people, to stop them from reaching their land, and ultimately to empty the al-Daak area,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Land and identity<\/p>\n
For Palestinians, the stakes of this escalating violence are existential.<\/p>\n
Mohammad Majdi Abu Makho, a Palestinian from Deir Jarir, northeast of Ramallah, was run over by a settler\u2019s vehicle and pepper-sprayed while praying near his village entrance on December 25, 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, the land is life. It truly is everything,\u201d Abu Makho told Al Jazeera. \u201cWhat does a farmer \u2013 or anyone \u2013 have other than their land? It gives us a sense of belonging. It is our identity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abu Makho said the settler routinely brought sheep to the town\u2019s entrance, prompting residents to try to drive him away. But, he said, the settler would start firing indiscriminately.<\/p>\n
Abu Makho later pursued the case through the Israeli legal system. The Israeli military confirmed after the incident that the settler was an army reservist, and said he had also opened fire inside Deir Jarir earlier that day while wearing civilian clothes. His weapon was confiscated and his reserve service suspended while the incidents were investigated.<\/p>\n
Fatal encounters<\/p>\n
This blurring of lines between civilian settlers and the military can frequently turn deadly.<\/p>\n
On April 11, 2026, 23-year-old Ali Majed Hamadneh was killed in Deir Jarir.<\/p>\n
According to a statement issued that day by the Israeli military, forces were dispatched following reports of Palestinians throwing stones at an Israeli. \u201cThe reserve soldier carried out a suspect arrest procedure that included firing into the air and then firing at one of the stone-throwers,\u201d the military stated, adding that the suspect was injured and his death was later determined.<\/p>\n
However, a press release issued by the Israeli human rights organisation B\u2019Tselem on April 13 presented a sharply different account. B\u2019Tselem reported that two settlers from the Oranim Farm outpost brought their sheep to graze on Deir Jarir farmland, and when residents tried to drive them away, two more settlers arrived.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of them, a soldier on reserve duty in a military Regional Defence Battalion, launched a massive volley of shots and the residents began to flee,\u201d B\u2019Tselem stated. \u201cOne of the bullets hit Ali Hamadneh, 23, in the back while he was running away and posed no danger\u201d.<\/p>\n
B\u2019Tselem\u2019s investigation directly contradicted the army, finding \u201cthat there were no military forces at the scene other than the settler on reserve duty who fired the shots\u201d.<\/p>\n
According to B\u2019Tselem, settler militias have killed at least 35 Palestinians since October 2023.<\/p>\n
Parallel command<\/p>\n
The structural integration of settlers into the Israeli military apparatus accelerated rapidly after the genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023.<\/p>\n
An August 9 report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Israeli military had called up some 5,500 West Bank settlers as reservists and assigned them to regional defence battalions after the war started.<\/p>\n
According to the Haaretz report, soldiers operating in the West Bank testified that members of these battalions often operate with broad autonomy, at times disregarding the authority of regular military commanders.<\/p>\n
One commander told Haaretz: \u201cThey tell you quite openly that they\u2019re the lords of the land here, and that\u2019s really how it feels on the ground\u201d. Another reserve commander was quoted saying: \u201cEverything else was about dealing with Jews looking for provocations\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sarah Sanbar, acting Israel and Palestine researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the Israeli government had expanded settlers\u2019 security and military roles.<\/p>\n
She noted that the Israeli government bolstered the security role of settlers through reserve call-ups and the creation of rapid response squads whose members were equipped with special police powers.<\/p>\n
This effectively led to \u201carming settlers in the West Bank and militarising them at unprecedented levels\u201d, Sanbar told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
Bashar Qaryouti, an anti-settlement activist south of Nablus, explained the dual role this can give individual settlers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis gives a settler more than one role in the same place,\u201d Qaryouti said. \u201cHe has a direct interest in expanding the settlement, while his military service gives him weapons, experience and connections within the Israeli military system.\u201d<\/p>\n
This growing overlap between settlers and Israeli security structures has drawn international scrutiny.<\/p>\n
In May 2026, the European Union imposed sanctions on the Israeli organisation Hashomer Yosh and its president, Avichai Suissa. The EU said Hashomer Yosh provided material support and coordinated volunteers at herding farms \u201csupporting at least 28 violent outposts and settlements in the West Bank\u201d. It also said the organisation recruited armed volunteers and provided guards involved in violent attacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cHashomer Yosh supports pastoral outposts and provides them with volunteers and guards around Qaryut, al-Mughayyir, and other Palestinian areas,\u201d Qaryouti explained.<\/p>\n