Settlers threatened to force Palestinian families from their homes overnight as Israel counts election votes

During the attack, which lasted around an hour, settlers damaged one resident’s car and stole another’s 1.5-cubic-metre water tank. They then returned to the hill overlooking the community, where they appeared to have established an outpost the day before.

The raid followed days of land clearance and construction at the site. Just yesterday, a community member told Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) – which provides mobile clinic services including mental health and primary healthcare to ash-Shuneh – that more than three settler families had arrived on the hill and begun installing what appeared to be water lines and electricity cables.

He said: "Yesterday, around ten settler vehicles arrived on the hill overlooking our community and began installing what appear to be their own water lines and electricity cables. We still don’t know exactly what is happening, but everything we’re seeing on the ground makes us fear that they are preparing to establish an outpost."

The resident also described the struggle to secure basic services for the community: “Palestinian families have lived here for years, relying on livestock for their livelihoods. After a long struggle, our community only gained access to a water pipeline two weeks ago.

"Yet, as settler families arrived on the hill, they installed water and electricity connections immediately. It is painful to see such a stark contrast: while we struggle for the most basic necessities, settlers have access to these services”

Residents say the raid follows months of escalating settler intimidation. On 14 October, they reported settlers entering the heart of their community almost daily and threatening residents with expulsion after Israel's election. In August, armed settlers assaulted a family and threatened to burn their homes and seize their livestock if they did not leave. Around 80 families are now facing growing uncertainty over whether they can remain in their homes.

The same resident spoke of the existential threat facing ash-Shuneh: "Not long ago, our main concern was securing water and electricity for our families. Now, we fear for the future of our entire community, for our mere existence."

The raid comes as a UN Commission of Inquiry has found that Israel committed the crime against humanity of extermination in the West Bank. Just two days ago, the Commission warned of the scale of violence against Palestinians. As Israel counts its election votes, communities across the West Bank like ash-Shuneh are facing threats of forced displacement and ethnic cleansing.

Aseel Baidoun, Deputy Director of Advocacy and Campaigns at Medical Aid for Palestinians, said: “In ash-Shuneh, Palestinians are facing the loss of their homes and the threat of forced displacement. Israel may change its prime minister, but Palestinians have little reason to expect a new face in office to mean a new reality on the ground. Their lives should not hinge on the outcome of an Israeli election.

“The international community has spent years condemning Israel while maintaining the arms transfers, trade and diplomatic relationships that give those condemnations so little weight. Governments cannot outsource their responsibility to whoever takes office in Israel next. They have leverage of their own, and every day they choose not to use it is another day Palestinians are left to bear the consequences.”

The UK government must acknowledge the serious risk of further atrocity crimes against Palestinians in the West Bank and meet the UK’s legal duty to prevent them. MAP is calling on the UK Government to use its political, diplomatic and economic influence to protect Palestinian civilians and ensure access to healthcare across the occupied West Bank.

It is urging the government to:

• Use the new sanctions powers now to sanction all those responsible for the forced displacement and ethnic cleansing.
• Urgently implement a loophole-free settlement trade ban
• Work to end the unlawful occupation in line with the International Court of Justice’s 2024 advisory opinion.
• Impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel in light of serious violations of international law
• Press Israel to lift movement restrictions that prevent Palestinians from reaching hospitals, accessing essential supplies and returning to their homes
• Take concrete steps to prevent forced displacement and ensure accountability for violations of international humanitarian law

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Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) works for a future where every Palestinian has access to a comprehensive, effective and locally-led system of healthcare, and the full realisation of their rights to health and dignity. We have worked for more than 40 years in the occupied Palestinian territory and in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

MAP’s local team in Gaza continues to deliver our largest humanitarian response in our history in order to meet critical health and humanitarian needs caused by more than three years of Israel’s genocide. Last year, MAP and our local partners delivered nearly two million vital healthcare and humanitarian services to Palestinians in Gaza.