Olmert: Netanyahu supports settlers’ brutal crimes against Palestinians

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “supports the brutal crimes” committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, former PM Ehud Olmert said yesterday.

In an interview with Army Radio, Olmert stated that Netanyahu, in his capacity as prime minister, “supports the brutal crimes committed by hilltop youth in Palestinian territories,” adding that the government also turns a blind eye to these acts.

The hilltop youth is an extremist settler group whose members have been involved in violent attacks against Palestinians, including arson, property destruction, tree uprooting and the establishment of illegal outposts.

Members of this group belong to right-wing parties that make up the current Israeli government.

Settler attacks against Palestinians, particularly in the northern occupied West Bank, have intensified since the current government was formed at the end of 2020.

Illegal Israeli settlement expansion across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has also seen significant growth since then, according to the Israeli left-wing organisation Peace Now, which monitors settlement activity in the West Bank.

Since launching its war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, the Israeli army and settlers have escalated their attacks in the West Bank. According to official Palestinian data, these attacks have led to the deaths of more than 945 Palestinians, the injury of around 7,000 others, and the arrest of approximately 15,800.

READ: Israel’s brutal aggression in Gaza continues with impunity