At approximately 10.30am on a scorching Monday, a group of five young Israeli settlers arrived at the Tarqumiya checkpoint, west of Hebron in the West Bank, where dozens of aid trucks bound for Gaza were expected.
The settlers had received detailed information about the timing, location, and number of trucks that would pass through the checkpoint that morning. What they had not anticipated was that dozens of peace activists had also gathered in Tarqumiya with a specific mission: to prevent the settlers from blocking the vehicles and ensure that the aid continued its journey to Gaza.
“We decided to form this humanitarian guard, because we understand that this a fight over the lives of innocent people in Gaza,” said Alon-Lee Green, the national co-director of the Jewish-Arab peace coalition Standing Together, a movement mobilising Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel in pursuit of peace, equality and social justice. “These are people who have lost their homes [and] their land, people facing starvation.
“But it’s not only about on this, it’s also a battle over the soul of our society, over the question of whether we can remain human in the face of fear, in the face of trauma; whether we can make sure that we choose life over death, or we choose solidarity over hatred and starvation.”
In recent weeks videos have emerged showing aid convoys being blocked and vandalised by Israeli settlers and trucks being set on fire.
Those blocking the vehicles have said the aid they carry is being diverted by Hamas instead of being delivered to civilians in need, a claim relief agencies reject. The attacks have created outrage and been condemned by the White House as “completely and utterly unacceptable behaviour”.
At Tarqumiya, as the first aid truck began to pass through the checkpoint, the young settlers moved into the middle of the road, forcing the truck to stop. Green and dozens of other peace activists surrounded the settlers, holding hands to form a barrier around them, as the truck began to move again.
The settlers tried to free themselves from the human barrier to reposition themselves in front of the truck, shouting at the peace activists and accusing them of aiding Hamas.
Israeli soldiers approached but said they could not intervene.
Previous footage has appeared to show Israeli soldiers escorting convoys, without taking any action against the settlers.
Green said the peace activists’ goal was to force the police to turn up at the checkpoints. “We cannot engage in physical confrontation with them [the settlers],” he said. “It’s not something we seek, it’s not something we want to do. But we can prevent them from getting close to the trucks and make sure that the police will see that … It’s not our role to protect those trucks. It’s the police that should do this job.”
After reviewing dozens of videos, Standing Together has identified at least 20 settlers who have participated in the convoy attacks. “If we can identify those people, the police can do that as well,” he said.
Multiple sources have said that members of Israel’s security forces are tipping off far-right activists and settlers to the location of aid trucks. The relationship has been confirmed by a spokesperson from the main Israeli activist group behind the blockades and supported by messages from settlers’ internal chat groups reviewed by the Guardian, as well as accounts from witnesses and human rights activists.
The UN has said 1.1 million people in Gaza – nearly half the population – face catastrophic levels of hunger, and that the territory is on the brink of famine. In the past three days, settlers have continued blocking and looting dozens of aid trucks bound for the territory.
Standing Together’s tactics proved successful. After about half an hour, as a long queue of vehicles formed at the checkpoint, a group of police officers arrived. In front of dozens of peace activists and reporters filming the scene, the police intervened, forcing the settlers to clear the road and allowing the trucks to continue.
A young settler who tried to lie down on the ground was forcefully moved by the police and taken to a vehicle.
Settlers are often armed with automatic rifles. Asked if the Standing Together activists are afraid of a physical confrontation, Stav a 32-year-old member of the group, said: “Every time weapons are involved, of course there is a fear that something will escalate. But we hope that our presence here, because we are Jewish Israelis, will make a kind of difference and have the effect of producing hesitancy on the part of the settlers in using weapons.”
Emanuel Yitzhak Levi, 28, another peace activist, said: “Of course we are afraid. But we feel that it is necessary to do what we are doing. Even according to our religion, when at war with another city, the population cannot be starved. Unfortunately, we are a minority within a minority in Israel.”
None of the settlers involved in the Tarqumiya incident wanted to comment.
Promoting peace and opposing the occupation of the Palestinian territories has been no easy task in Israel since the 7 October Hamas attacks.
The same month, as Israel reeled from the horror of the attacks, two Standing Together activists were detained for putting up posters with a message – “Jews and Arabs, we will get through this together” – that police officers deemed to be offensive.
Officers confiscated their posters, as well as T-shirts printed with peace slogans in Hebrew and Arabic.
It was not an isolated incident. Across Israel, people are being detained, fired from their jobs, and even attacked for expressing sentiments interpreted by some as showing sympathy for Hamas.
“At the beginning of the war we tried to send aid trucks to Gaza but the police prevented us from reaching the border, even though we coordinated with international aid organisations,” said Green. “Then we did a few demonstrations on the border. And we tried to reach the Kerem Shalom passage to spotlight the blockage of aid trucks. It didn’t work.
“At that point, we felt it was time for a direct action.”
