Hamas Urges West Bank Uprising to Counter “Settler Terrorist Attacks”

By Staff, Agencies

Hamas has issued a call for widespread resistance across the occupied West Bank following a wave of deadly “settler terrorist attacks” in the Ramallah area, urging Palestinians to rise up and confront the escalating aggression.

In a statement released Friday, the Gaza-based resistance movement condemned violent settler assaults on the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, and the attack on residents of Khirbet al-Tal in Jabal al-Batin to the south.

Hamas said the incidents underscore “the terrorist nature of the ‘Israeli’ occupation and its fascist plans to steal our land and uproot our people in the West Bank.”

The group accused the extremist right-wing Zionist government of arming and unleashing settler militias, backed by what it called the “Nazi occupation army.” Hamas declared that such tactics would only deepen Palestinian determination to defend their land and holy sites. It called on people in all West Bank governorates to rise up and “activate all forms of resistance until the aggression is defeated.”

Hamas also mourned Saif al-Din Kamel Abdul Karim Muslat, a Palestinian-American who was brutally beaten to death by settlers during the Sinjil attack. “This pure blood will not be in vain and will be a curse upon the occupation and its settlers,” the group affirmed.

Several hours after Muslat’s killing, another Palestinian man—identified by the Palestinian Health Ministry as 23-year-old Mohammed al-Shalabi—was shot in the chest by settlers and left to bleed for hours. The Ministry confirmed his death from a live bullet that entered through the chest and exited his back.

Human rights organizations have long documented systematic settler violence across the West Bank, including the ransacking of Palestinian homes, arson attacks on vehicles and properties, and raids on entire towns—actions often described as organized pogroms.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, settler and military violence has surged dramatically since the beginning of “Israel’s” genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023. In the West Bank alone, at least 998 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured by “Israeli” forces and settlers.

The Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reported that by the end of 2024, approximately 770,000 illegal settlers were living in the West Bank across 180 settlements and 256 outposts, including 138 classified as agricultural or grazing outposts.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice [ICJ] ruled “Israel’s” occupation of Palestinian territories illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds.