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

[FloralDeerPattern]

The problem of Israeli terrorism is getting worse and worse. Just over the past few weeks amongst other things Israeli terrorists have killed multiple people, commited sexual assault, beaten and threatened to rape young Palestinian girls, continually attacked the residents and property of the only remaining fully Christian town in the West Bank, stolen 100s of sheep from the Bedouin community, beaten activists who are there to provide a protective presence to Palestinians, set fire to property.

Palestinians don't have the right to defend themselves from this violent, rapidly escalating Israeli terrorism. They can't arrest and detain the Israeli terrorists. They are sitting ducks with no means of protecting themselves from beatings and sexual violence. Is it time that the international community steps in and sanctions Israel until they can control their obvious terrorism problem? What else can be done to try and protect innocent people from this escalating Israeli violence?

Sure, they feel so strongly on it they have swung the discussion around to Iran instead.

Threads always go off at tangents, you know this. It's common for Iran to get mentioned in threads about Israel, and Israel to be mentioned in posts about Iran.

This is a rare thread on this board where we all agree with the OP. We all think that the international community should sanction Israel over settler violence in the West Bank.

I would have to trawl through multiple threads which are many many pages long, so no I won’t. And I literally couldn’t give two shits if you believe me or not. I know what I read.

Israel is currently attacking Iran. Of course Israel is mentioned on threads about Iran. I don't see how it is relevant to a thread about extremist Jewish terrorists ethnically cleansing the West Bank of non Jews though.

Ok but on lots of threads people talk about stuff I don't consider relevant to the topic ... by commenting on it you've created another diversion to the actual topic.

By pointing out what people are doing, trying to drag the thread off topic by talking about anything but the Jewish extremist terrorists currently ethnically cleansing the West Bank I am highlighting that although posters purport to care, they don't care enough to discuss the actual issue. They would rather talk about anything but Jewish extremists carrying out ethnic cleansing instead they come to the thread to defend Israel and speak about Iran.

This is part of the problem. Palestinians even when being ethnically cleansed by terrorists still aren't centred. People can't stand even a thread to be just about them and helping them and I think that that is worth pointing out.

One could argue it’s relevant as by attacking Iran and causing all sorts of problems what they do i. Palestine is being overlooked more easily

Ok @FloralDeerPattern but nearly all threads go off topic. At least everyone is agreeing that the violence given to the Palestinian population by the Settlers is not acceptable. We are not defending Israel on this issue, but agreeing the extremist members of their government are in the wrong.

Universal sympathy towards those attacked is not always apparent on other threads, for example the one about Jewish people who were killed at the Bondi Beach attack. Some people tried to justify that attack rather than just agreeing it was deplorable.

If you don’t want discussion then you shouldn’t say one sided things like “Israel is currently attacking Iran”. They are, but Iran is also attacking Israel via their proxies.

Unequivocally yes. Agree that this most recent aggression has opened the eyes of people all over the world to how Israel expects special treatment... and its self-serving disregard for human life and international law... and how much they're enabled by other countries. The scales have fallen...

For sure a lot of people have woken up to the reality of what seems like endless Israeli aggression but the problem is that that isn't filtering through to out governments yet. Although polls show that the majority no longer support Israel, governments are being very slow to follow and act on the wishes of their citizens and to distance themselves from this violent regime and sanction them for their violations of international law.

Possibly this war with Iran will expedite that because when our standard of living falls because of Israeli and US bombings people are going to be pissed off, to put it lightly. It's one thing watching Israel destroy the lives of people far away but it's another when it starts to have a real impact on people in West.

The IRCG and Hezbollah helped assad kill at least 500k people (they stopped counting at 500k). Yemen (150’000 deaths due to houthis starting a civil war) what do you think the Houthis have been doing to Yemenis, where do you think they got the arms? Hezbollah has been responsible for assassinations etc and they are recognised in lebanon as being an arm of the IRCG. Oh and tens of thousands of their own people.

Everything they touch dies.

To return to the topic of the the thread I was just looking at videos of the Basbous family who were evicted from their home in the last few days so it can be handed to the far right organisation Ateret Cohanim. Must be so frustrating when the courts and the judicial system are stacked against you .

There are also reports of Israeli soldiers turning a blind eye to it.

« the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have faced mounting criticism for actively participating in attacks, standing by, or failing to prosecute those responsible.
While the IDF said it viewed the settler violence following the funeral "seriously", residents of Deir al-Hatab complained that soldiers in a nearby watchtower turned a blind eye to the mob that descended on the village and delayed the arrival of ambulances and firefighters. »

Its not just extremists in the Israeli government who are facilitating settler violence against Palestinians in the WB.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c747x00m83vo

Would this type of state facilitated prejudice against Palestinians videoed here by the CNN count as apartheid?

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/27/middleeast/israeli-soldiers-settler-ideology-detain-cnn-crew-latam-intl

Agreed. It was a horrible thread and those people should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

From the NYT.

Israel Pulls Battalion From West Bank After Soldier Talks of ‘Revenge’

While detaining a CNN crew, a soldier said that Israeli troops were motivated by “revenge” against Palestinians and that all of the West Bank was “for the Jews.”

Qawasma/Reuters
David M. Halbfinger
By David M. Halbfinger
Reporting from Jerusalem

The Israeli military has suspended a battalion of reservists from active duty in the occupied West Bank after soldiers there detained a team of CNN journalists and one of the soldiers said on camera that the troops were carrying out “revenge” against Palestinians.

A CNN cameraman was put in a chokehold and he and several colleagues were detained for about two hours, the network reported last week, as they documented the establishment of an illegal outpost of Israeli settlers in Tayasir, a Palestinian village northeast of Nablus.

During the journalists’ detention on Thursday, one of the soldiers was recorded on video saying that the entire West Bank was “for the Jews.” He said that the soldiers’ motivation was “revenge” for the killing of an Israeli teenager in a collision with a car driven by a Palestinian on March 21.

In a statement on Monday, the Israeli military said that the soldier’s entire reserve battalion was being pulled from the field for additional training.

Soldiers were required to “maintain composure, statesmanship and respect for the uniform they wear and the military they represent,” it said.

Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the army’s chief of staff, called the episode a “grave ethical incident.”

“We all swore the soldier’s oath upon enlistment,” he said in the statement. “Weapons are to be used solely for the purpose of carrying out the mission, and never for revenge.”

The military also said that it had apologized to the CNN journalists.

The suspended battalion is composed largely of veterans of the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, a unit established for ultra-Orthodox Jewish men whose strict religious observance demands that men and women be separated.

Netzah Yehuda’s soldiers have been accused of abusing Palestinians. It was singled out for possible sanctions in 2024 by the United States under the so-called Leahy Law, which bans foreign military units accused of human rights violations from receiving U.S. aid or training. The Biden administration, in the end, declined to suspend aid to the battalion.

One of the most egregious episodes attributed to the battalion involved the death of a 78-year-old Palestinian American who was detained, gagged and handcuffed by members of the unit in a raid on his village in 2022.

An autopsy showed that the man had died from a stress-induced heart attack brought on by injuries he sustained while he was detained. An investigation by the Israeli military’s justice system found fault with the conduct of the soldiers involved. The Israeli military disciplined three commanders, but no criminal charges were brought.

In the statement on Monday, General Zamir said that the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, including the battalion of reservists, “is dear and important to us, and we have invested significantly in strengthening it.” But he added that there was no place in the military for “unethical norms,” adding that “we will not compromise on this.”

Yes read about this. These two paragraphs are the only reason these soldiers are being suspended....

The Israeli military has suspended a battalion of reservists from active duty in the occupied West Bank after soldiers there detained a team of CNN journalists and one of the soldiers said on camera that the troops were carrying out “revenge” against Palestinians.

A CNN cameraman was put in a chokehold and he and several colleagues were detained for about two hours, the network reported last week, as they documented the establishment of an illegal outpost of Israeli settlers in Tayasir, a Palestinian village northeast of Nablus.

It is a rare thing to agree. Now the Israeli government has finally passed a law by which Palestinians can be executed.

Is this a reason to sanction?

www.thejournal.ie/israeli-mps-debate-death-penalty-for-palestinians-convicted-of-deadly-attacks-6998883-Mar2026/

Accounts of soldiers standing by as settlers attack Palestinians are not new, and I have not previously read of any withdrawal of these soldiers.

Are soldiers only withdrawn if they allow themselves to be videoed assaulting American journalists?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/22/israeli-settlers-carry-out-series-of-west-bank-attacks-as-security-forces-stand-by

This battalion shouldn't have been still operating in the first place. It's a really poor reflection on Israel that they let these violent extremists run around with impunity terrorising people for so long. Beatings, sexual assault, electrocution, shooting and killing unarmed civillians and it isn't until US journalists are harmed that they take action. They were fully aware of how disgustingly violent this battalion was and threatened Biden if he dared sanction them. A disgrace of a government and a disgrace of an army.

Palestinians are fair game for sexual assault, torture and killings to Israel. This case shows really clearly how racist Israel really is.

No it shows racism amongst certain parts of Israel not the whole country.

In the same way that the extreme violence & racism of Hamas & their supporters doesn’t define the whole Palestinian population and it would be wrong to suggest it does.

OK cool, it shows how racist the democratically elected Israeli government and their institutions are. For years and years they have allowed this battalion to torture, sexually assault and shoot and kill people without consequences. Threatening those who propose consequences for their racist, violent actions like Biden did.

This issue has been ongoing for a very long time yet Netanyahu, who has allowed this racism to flourish and grow has been elected again and again and again enabling this terrorist behaviour against innocent civilians because they were born Palestinian. That it took this battalion being filmed by a US news agency explicitly telling us and showing the world what they do everyday for any action to be taken speaks volumes.

The outrageous things Hamas do has equally been allowed to continue for too many years.

It’s racist to blame a whole country full of people for extreme behaviour from their leaders or some of their military. For the same reason I wouldn’t blame ordinary Russian civilians for the actions of Putin.

Israel has plenty of good & moderate people living there too, who didn’t vote for the extremist coalition party currently running Israel & will actively vote against them when they get the opportunity.

The poster clarified who they were talking about
it shows how racist the democratically elected Israeli government and their institutions are.

No one is defending or suggesting Hamas haven't done horrific things so not sure why you needed to bring that up unless it is to demonstrate how both Hamas and the Israeli battalion are similar in their actions and tactics in which case I would agree.

No it was to remind people that if you blame all Israelis for what their leaders do, it would equally be logical to blame all Palestinians for Hamas.

Better in both examples to restrict who you blame to the actual leadership and their supporters but I don’t see that distinction when people make comments about “Israel”.

I was responding to a comment along the lines of, ”this case shows really clearly how racist Israel really is” but Israel is a whole country so collective blame is not fair.