Palestinians in occupied West Bank face growing violence from Israeli settlers

[0:00] AMNA NAWAZ. [0:01] This week, Palestinians protested a new Israeli law that expands the death penalty for killings [0:05] classified as acts of terrorism. [0:08] Human rights groups say the law is expected to apply exclusively to Palestinian prisoners [0:12] in the occupied West Bank. [0:14] The U.N. and international groups report that, as Israel and the U.S. are waging war in Iran, [0:20] there's also been a surge of violence in the West Bank, mostly by Israeli settlers against [0:25] Palestinians there. [0:27] Nick Schifrin recently visited Mokmas in the occupied West Bank to understand the nature [0:32] of that violence and its impact on Palestinian families. [0:35] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. In the hills outside of Jerusalem, a father and uncle walk a painful [0:42] path. [0:43] This is the first time that Mohamed Abusiam has visited his own son's grave. [0:49] Nasrallah Abusiam was 19 years old when he was killed six weeks ago. [0:55] Nasrallah helped build his own grave. [0:58] It was supposed to be for his grandfather. [0:59] NASRALLAH ABUSIAM, U.N. [1:00] Nasrallah told him, I wish my day before your day, my grandfather. [1:03] And into the road, he's in it. [1:07] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [1:10] Khaled Abusiam is Nasrallah's uncle and is American, like his nephew. [1:14] NASRALLAH ABUSIAM, U.N. [1:15] And we all wish, all wish to use the same grave, Nasrallah. [1:20] We proud of you. [1:21] We proud of what you ever did. [1:26] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [1:27] For all his life, Nasrallah Abusiam was an avid horse rider and teacher of his little [1:33] cousins. [1:34] Encouraging them not to be afraid, he led processions at local weddings. [1:39] That's him in the gray suit on his horse. [1:43] His horse's name is Shams, Arabic for sun, as in the sun that shines. [1:49] Today, the horse is still waiting for Muhammad's son. [1:53] NASRALLAH ABUSIAM, U.N. [1:54] He said, Shams will stay with me for my whole life, and she remained. [2:00] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [2:01] She still remains without her rider. [2:04] This small town is more than 80 percent of its population. [2:05] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [2:06] It's not American. [2:07] But they say Israel's wars in Iran, Gaza and Lebanon have made them as vulnerable as any [2:12] Palestinians. [2:13] ANWAR MUSTAFA, U.N. [2:14] All people's story. [2:16] You know, every day in a different town. [2:18] They just don't care. [2:19] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [2:20] Anwar Mustafa is 57 and also American. [2:23] He and Nasrallah's other friends visit his grave to support a Palestinian community and [2:28] family that feels under siege. [2:30] ANWAR MUSTAFA, U.N. [2:31] Every town, they trying to kick us out of our town. [2:35] They came to kill that day. [2:36] They came to kill. [2:37] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [2:39] On February 18, residents say these Jewish settlers arrived on the high ground, some [2:43] of them armed. [2:44] They stole the Palestinians' livestock, which provides their livelihoods. [2:48] And down the hill, Palestinians tried to hold their ground, some throwing stones. [2:53] And suddenly, one of the Palestinians was shot. [2:56] Nasrallah tried to help. [2:57] ANWAR MUSTAFA, U.N. [2:58] That's in his blood to help people. [3:01] So he couldn't not to get involved. [3:05] And him and couple of guy trying to help this guy on the floor. [3:09] They trying just to take him away, just to save him. [3:14] And all of them get shot. [3:15] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [3:16] In the Abu Siyam family home, there is great grief. [3:19] They believe Nasrallah could have been saved, if not for Israeli military checkpoints in [3:23] the occupied West Bank. [3:24] ANWAR MUSTAFA, U.N. [3:25] He lost too much blood in the way. [3:30] He was helpful until the last minute in his life. [3:46] We never going to forget. [3:50] He tried to help people. [3:53] Now he left us. [3:54] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [3:57] Mokmas' population is about 13,000. [3:57] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [3:58] Traditionally, he was the leader of the Jewish community. [3:59] ANWAR MUSTAFA, U.N. [3:59] Traditionally, many residents come here from the U.S. for the summer, but they're increasingly [4:03] staying here year-round to help protect the village. [4:07] So, can you tell us what we're looking at up there? [4:09] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [4:10] On the edge of town, Mohammad Abu Siyam shows me the Israeli outpost, where he believes [4:14] his son's killers still live. [4:16] The makeshift houses are illegal under Israeli and international law, but he says they have [4:21] been there for five years. [4:23] MOHAMMAD ABU SIYAM, U.N. [4:24] The first thing they did when they came is to build a house or two. [4:28] The army demolished the two houses. [4:29] The next day, they built three, and the army demolished the three. [4:33] But in around one year, they built 30 houses. [4:36] After that, the army didn't care. [4:37] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [4:38] In a statement provided to PBS NewsHour, the Israeli Defense Forces says its mission [4:43] is to safeguard the security of all residents in the area. [4:47] And on the day Nasrallah was killed, life-endangering stone-throwing occurred, and Israeli forces [4:52] acted to disperse the disturbance without firing live ammunition. [4:57] President Abu Siyam says he, his father and grandfather have been shepherds on this land, [5:02] or nearby land, for 90 years. [5:05] In the last few years, he's taken to sleeping in this shack next to his sheep to defend [5:11] them from settler attacks. [5:12] MOHAMMAD ABU SIYAM, U.N. [5:13] They want to take the land. [5:16] If you attack them or even try to talk to them, they will immediately call for police [5:19] or army, and the army will come and arrest you. [5:22] So they started to expand towards the town until they became very close to the houses. [5:25] And by the end, the army was gone. [5:26] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [5:27] They have reached the boundaries of our houses, and you just can't do anything. [5:31] NICK SCHIFRIN, The U.N. and international human rights organizations say settler violence [5:37] against Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank has been rising. [5:41] The U.N. says, already this year, settlers have displaced more Palestinians than in all [5:46] of last year. [5:47] And since the war with Iran began, settlers have averaged six attacks on Palestinians [5:52] every day. [5:53] The violence has spiked, especially since Hamas' terrorist attacks in Iraq. [5:57] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [5:58] The U.N. has been in Israel on October 7, 2023. [6:02] Since then, the U.N. says settlers and soldiers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in [6:07] the Occupied West Bank, nearly one-quarter of them children under 18. [6:11] The violence drew a rare rebuke from Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who called the attacks, [6:16] quote, a shameful crime against innocents. [6:19] ISRAEL PRESIDENT ISRAEL, President of the United States, They're talking about a handful [6:20] of kids. [6:21] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [6:22] On FOX News late last year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that Palestinians [6:26] attacked Israelis living in the Occupied West Bank. [6:27] But he also vowed to reduce settler crime. [6:31] ISRAEL PRESIDENT, U.N. [6:32] They do things like chopping the olive trees, and sometimes they try to burn a home. [6:35] I can't accept that. [6:36] That's vigilantism. [6:37] I'm taking that out. [6:38] But they claim they put a false symmetry between these teenagers and 1,000, actually over 1,000 [6:46] terrorist attempts, terrorist attacks against the settlers. [6:51] I'm putting a special effort to stop this vigilantism. [6:55] I can't accept it. [6:56] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [6:57] It's terrible, even if it's not symmetrical. [6:59] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [7:01] But critics call the violence state-sanctioned. [7:04] Last month, 8-year-old Mustafa Odeh and his 12-year-old brother, Khaled, were the only [7:09] survivors after Israeli border police fired at their family car. [7:13] Both their parents and two younger brothers were killed. [7:16] ISRAEL PRESIDENT, U.N. [7:18] Last week, the Israeli Parliament passed a law that expands the death penalty for killings [7:23] classified as acts of terrorism. [7:25] That will apply almost exclusively to the Israeli military. [7:27] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [7:28] The Israeli government has been working with the military's Palestinian prisoners [7:30] in the occupied West Bank. [7:33] Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gavir celebrated with champagne. [7:39] The violence and displacement has helped separate and isolate Palestinian communities in the [7:44] West Bank and insert Israeli outposts or illegal settlements on land that Palestinians hope [7:49] will be their future state. [7:51] And it's affected Palestinian communities across the West Bank, including its most rural [7:56] areas. [7:57] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [7:58] We've seen increased violence as Israel wages war elsewhere in villages across the [8:03] West Bank, including those as small as this one. [8:07] Palestinians described decades of targeting and persecution, and now violence that is [8:12] unspeakable. [8:13] SUHAIB ABU AL-KHABASH, Israeli President- I was 100 percent terrified. [8:16] I thought, that's it. [8:17] They will kill me. [8:18] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [8:19] Suhaib Abu Al-Khabash is still suffering from that terror. [8:22] He says, last month, 20 settlers attacked his village, his family, and himself. [8:26] SUHAIB ABU AL-KHABASH, Israeli President- I was outside. [8:27] I was outside. [8:28] They grabbed me inside the tent and started hitting me. [8:32] They tied me, tied my legs and my hands with zip ties. [8:37] They took my pants off and zip-tied my penis and started hitting me. [8:41] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [8:42] His family, his wife and children, tied together and made to watch. [8:46] And he says the settlers showed them no mercy. [8:49] SUHAIB ABU AL-KHABASH, Israeli President- Everyone was beaten, except a four-month [8:52] baby girl. [8:53] She was asleep, but everybody was beaten, all the children. [8:57] What will they understand? [8:58] What will they know about these robbers or settlers? [8:59] SUHAIB ABU AL-KHABASH, Israeli President- They were scared. [9:01] They're still children, just children. [9:04] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [9:05] This kind of violence is obviously very personal. [9:08] Why are you willing to talk about it to a reporter like me? [9:11] SUHAIB ABU AL-KHABASH, Israeli President- To convey my voice to the world, [9:15] to tell what's happening, what they are doing to people. [9:18] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [9:19] And what they are doing isn't only about violence. [9:22] It's about land. [9:23] This family has lived in this area for 70 years, three generations of shepherding. [9:29] Four hundred sheep, and Abu Al-Khabash says settlers stole all of them and vowed to maintain [9:34] their pressure. [9:35] SUHAIB ABU AL-KHABASH, Israeli President- They said to us, if you will not leave [9:38] from here, the next day, we will come and burn you, rape your women, and we will take [9:43] your children and make them live with us. [9:45] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [9:46] But some parents' children have already been taken and their land encroached by the very [9:52] people he says killed his son. [9:55] SUHAIB ABU AL-KHABASH, Israeli President- In what world does this happen? [9:57] Someone kills your son. [9:58] And they say, hey, look at me. [9:59] And he's not far from you. [10:01] You see him every day. [10:02] SUHAIB ABU AL-KHABASH, Israeli President- He's not leaving him alone, even two. [10:05] He's coming back and forth, back and forth, the same guy, same people. [10:10] And that make him more sad, more angry. [10:15] That's killing him more. [10:16] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [10:18] And so, instead of justice, there is a hollowness that can never be filled. [10:22] For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Nick Schifrin in Moukmas in the Occupied West Bank. [10:28] NICK SCHIFRIN, U.N. [10:39] Support journalism you trust. [10:41] Support PBS News. [10:43] Donate now, or even better, start a monthly contribution today.