Amnesty International has said Israeli settlers are turning the West Bank's olive harvest season into "a season of horror" for Palestinians after a series of attacks which have targeted European diplomats and an American journalist as well as farmers trying to pick their crops.
The rights group called on states to act against Israeli settlers after the attacks, which recently saw Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine injured, with broken ribs and hand injuries which required surgery.
Amnesty said the attack, and another which targeted European diplomats, "offer a glimpse into a reality of relentless aggression against Palestinians."
In a rare condemnation of Israeli settler violence, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called the attack a "despicable act of terror" in a post on X.
Huckabee also condemned settlers seizing property from Palestinian-Americans in August, but has long been an ardent supporter of Israel.
In September, he blamed "biblical illiteracy" for waning support for Israel among American citizens. He said in an interview with NewsNation that Americans will have a more favourable view of Israel if they "look at the truth."
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said more than 1,600 settler attacks resulting in casualties, property damage or both had been recorded across 275 Palestinian communities by mid-September this year.
Settler attacks were occurring at an average rate of 6.7 a day, up from five a day in 2025, with the violence spreading across an increasingly wide area of the occupied territory.
On Monday, Israeli police made rare arrests of 10 settlers in the West Bank following attacks on Levine, European diplomats, and Palestinians harvesting olives, It rarely prosecutes settlers accused of violent acts and Israeli armed forces often facilitiate settler attacks.
Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din found that just 3% of the police investigation files it monitored concerning ideologically motivated offences by Israelis against Palestinians between 2005 and 2025 led to full or partial convictions.
Amnesty said in a press release, "States must recognise that settler attacks are not isolated acts, but a central policy of the Israeli state and take concrete measures to respect their obligations under international law."
It called on countries "to avoid complicity in Israeli violations and crimes against Palestinians by halting all trade, investment and cooperation that contribute to maintaining the unlawful occupation, apartheid and the ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing."
American citizen Mohammed Sakat was also attacked by Israeli settlers on Monday.
US-based Muslim rights group CAIR said of the political response to the attack, "Failing to speak out about this and demand accountability is a betrayal of the American people in favour of a foreign state."
They called on the US government to launch an investigation into the attacks on Sakat, Levine, and all other Americans assaulted by Israeli settlers.
In September, the UK, Canada and France announced sanctions against Israeli settlements, which are illlegal under international law, in a joint move.
As rumours of UK sanctions on Israeli settlers spread, Huckabee accused the UK government of "Jew hate," but US official responses to the sanctions after the country's official announcement were notably muted.
Rather than his signature style of fiery, often personal attacks, US President Donald Trump responded to the sanctions saying, "I understand exactly what's going on, but I want to find out why all of a sudden has that happened."