Should the international community sanction Israel over settler violence in West Bank?

@Squeezingwildoranges ,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cyvee8vr7l1o

It looks like the head of the IDF did resign over it.

And, yes, it was a hell of an intelligence failure by both Mossad and the IDF.

I think Israel reinforces its reputation of being impregnable, both militarily and in terms of intelligence. It generally serves them well, but not in this instance.

(I also read that more Iranian missiles were getting through the iron dome than Israel was publicly acknowledging.)

Exactly. There is one report repeated several times by different media sources. It is damning if true as points to a failure by the senior Israeli military to perceive Hamas plans as a serious enough threat. A top military commander resigned over the security breaches on 7/10/23.

It was a mistake, yes. What it wasn’t was evidence that the Israelis allowed the massacre & kidnappings to happen for their own reasons. Israel does not sacrifice their own civilians, they spend billions on defending them.

When you look at all the evidence they had that was one hell of a mistake. In most countries, if the senior intelligence officers messed up that bad, they wouldn't just find themselves out of a job, they'd probably be in jail.

Nope, the above two posts don’t disprove it was a lie, in fact they reinforce it.

Ths conspiracy theory is that senior Israelis knew it would happen and allowed it as an excuse to invade Gaza.

The above articles suggest low level people warned their seniors that it might happen but senior people didn’t believe it was a serious plan or that Hamas was capable of carrying it out. It suggests Israeli incompetence.

There is a massive difference between a mistake and deliberately sacrificing 1,000 of your own citizens. Including young unarmed partygoers.

It's not an 'antisemetic lie' though is it.

It's a reported and known fact. Lower ranking IDF personnel repeatedly warned there was activity at the border and it was ignored by higher IDF operatives.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/israel-hamas-war-gaza-observation-hamas-attack-soldiers-kidnapped-rcna174228

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israel-had-hamass-october-7-battle-plan-for-a-year-but-dismissed-it-report/

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-776012

https://www.timesofisrael.com/surveillance-soldiers-warned-of-hamas-activity-on-gaza-border-for-months-before-oct-7/

https://www.jfeed.com/news-israel/hamas-training-gaza-border

https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/12/29/egypt-warned-israel-of-imminent-danger-from-gaza-weeks-before-oct-7/

@rainingsnoring ,

I do think that the idea the Israelis knew about 7/10 in advance is pretty odious.

Israel lost over 1,000 young people, which is a lot in a tiny country; the vast majority being civilians.

It is an unpleasant conspiracy theory as there is no evidence for it and it makes even less sense. Which Israelis knew about it? How did they keep it a secret from anyone else?

It is as offensive as believing that the Americans knew about 9/11 in advance.

You don't need to provide a source from The Telegraph or BBC - any reputable source will do. As you well know, I also quote myself from the Guardian and Independent in addition to many other sources. They are biased (as are the Telegraph and BBC) but are still reputable compared to one man you allegedly spoke to or something you saw on TikTok or similar.

Repeatedly accusing me of "black and white thinking" or another poster of "not understanding" is really just intended to shut us up.

If you're going to repeat a highly controversial and inflammatory claim twice, then at least provide some evidence to back it up.

In addition @rainingsnoring you have mentioned it twice just this morning.

Why don't I research it myself? No why don't you provide a reputable source for the outlandish things you are suggesting. A reputable source isn't one person's opinions by the way (real or imaginary) or something you read on social media. It is something that provides some evidence in the way of actual facts.

You repeated the antisemitic lie that “the Israelis actually knew about the coming attack and allowed it to happen for their own reasons”.

Which Israelis would do that? Don’t you know how much the Israel government spends on defence each year or how highly they value their citizens?

Which sources are you using to make that wild claim? It’s misinformation to keep repeating it on MN without offering a shred of evidence.

Nope, understand perfectly. You're holding Israelis to a different standard than Palestinians, excusing hate and the celebration of violence on one side and not the other.

It's not okay to support the settlers but supporting October 7th is "understandable". Talk about double standards.

Of course the international community should have sanctioned Israel long ago. They won't though because the US will not and they want 'an ally' (if you can call it that) in the region.
As you say, a large part of each population supports violence against the other side. The Palestinian feeling is at least understandable given that they have been living in occupied territory, subject to violence and treated as second class citizens for decades. A response to this is to be expected. The Israeli situation is different. There are, of course, reports that the Israelis knew about 7th October in advance and chose not to act to prevent it. Netanyahu has been trying to drag the US into a war on Iran for decades.
I can't see the feeling of the Israeli citizens changing rapidly, particularly as whatever happens in the upcoming elections, they will have similar policies.

In every way possible they are making life unbearable for Palestinians. Like what happened in Gaza.

https://www.thejournal.ie/activists-try-to-deliver-supplies-to-palestinians-besieged-by-israeli-settlers-in-the-west-bank-7131179-Aug2026/

Really feel for those families in Qusra.

I saw the news report of this. And the man whose crops were dying because the water from the spring keeping a while village alive was diverted to make the pool "Herods Way"

Water has long been used as a weapon of war by Israel so it's clear the same tactics used in Gaza are also being used in the West Bank.

Israel I imagine is the same as the UK and every other country.
The vast majority of people are moderate but pretty passive in terms of joining protests and mainly concerned with their own survival.

A minority are racists/ violent settlers/ Islamic terrorists etc

and on the other side - a minority are people who campaign for justice for others .

I try to. So do my kids and everyone we know. Not always possible but at least a single rotten unsold avocado is a slight sting.

Most definitely we should sanction.