The European Union is to launch a €6 million programme to help Palestinians facing violence from Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, with support including attack monitoring, protective equipment and a presence on the ground.
The project was confirmed on Monday by the Palestinian Authority and the EU office in Jerusalem. It is expected to be finalised within a few months and developed with local and international non-governmental organisations.
“In coordination with the government, the European Union will launch a programme to support victims of settler terrorism,” Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said in a statement.
The plan aims to document attacks by Israeli settlers and support Palestinian communities targeted by them, the office of the EU representative in Jerusalem told French news agency AFP.
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Protective presence
“Civil society groups supported by the EU are expected to provide a protective presence in affected areas, while Palestinian communities facing attacks from settlers would also receive protective equipment such as fences," a source at the EU office told AFP.
That presence would not guarantee an end to attacks, a source within the EU representation in Jerusalem told RFI.
But it is intended to send a message to Palestinian residents reminding them “that they are not alone”, the source said.
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Violence by extremist settlers has intensified in recent years in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
Rural Palestinian communities are among the most vulnerable due to their isolation, with beatings, damage to farmland, livestock theft and arson attacks reported almost daily.
Settler violence has increased sharply in recent months. The United Nations says nearly 700 Palestinians were displaced by settler attacks between the start of 2025 and early February 2026, while Israeli rights group Yesh Din said only 2 percent of documented cases since October 2023 resulted in indictments.
The EU already has a sanctions list targeting settlers considered violent, as well as institutions linked to Israeli settlement activity. Those sanctions include bans on entering the EU.
New names could be added to the list in the coming weeks due to the increase in violence, the same source told RFI.
(with newswires)
