The brief respite in the burgeoning Israeli settler war on Palestinians is over. The conjunction of Ramadan, Easter and Passover witnessed a concerted effort from the international community to limit the violence. This included demands, largely ignored, to pause settlement construction. It also coincided with the pause in the Netanyahu government’s plans for judicial overhaul. All of this has ended. The last few weeks have seen the Israeli coalition — a government dominated by the settler movement — return to full-scale operations. So far this year, Israeli forces and settlers have killed 170 Palestinians, three times the number of fatalities at this point last year. In the last few days, settlers have run riot in numerous Palestinian towns and villages. Between 200 and 400 settlers rampaged through Turmus Ayya, damaging about 15 homes by arson and stoning. They set fire to homes with people still inside, as well as about 30 Palestinian-owned cars. This was the day after a lethal Palestinian attack at the settlement of Eli, which had followed yet another major assault on the Jenin refugee camp, where Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians including two children. The Israeli army has also upped its use of force, with Apache helicopter gunships and armed drones deployed in the West Bank. But the chutzpah prize of the millennium goes to the heads of the Israeli military, police and Shin Bet. They boldly stated that: “In recent days, violent attacks in (the West Bank) have been carried out by Israeli citizens against innocent Palestinians … These attacks contradict all Jewish values and are nationalist terror in every sense, and we are obligated to stop them.” Yes, these attacks do violate Jewish values, but the military, police and Shin Bet, many of whom are settlers, are part of the package. They facilitate the settler-colonial occupation. While Jericho was put under lockdown for a week earlier this year after one Palestinian fired one bullet, these security services seem incapable, despite their skills and resources, of arresting more than a few token settlers for what they say are terrorist attacks. Is there any difference between Israeli settler policy and state policy? If there is, it is minor and it only revolves around how to proceed at a pace the major powers, particularly the US, can live with. The settler leaders resent this, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not have been able to oversee such a great land grab over his 15 years in power without mastering how to keep Washington largely in check, even if he does test the limits. The settler movement believes force against its Palestinian neighbors is a requirement to achieve its ambitions. Settler violence has escalated to intensities never before witnessed in 56 years of occupation. These are not random acts of thuggery and vandalism. Indeed, many of the attacks were advertised online beforehand. It is a core part of the settlers’ strategic designs to push Palestinians off their land and into ever more crowded cities. To crush the rural Palestinian communities, settler violence targets their land, their water supplies, their solar panels and their crops. In a West Bank village I visited last month, Palestinian farmers showed me videos of settlers, with the active assistance of the army, burning their crops, shooting two Palestinians and torching five cars. The attackers were from two outposts facing each other across a small valley. The fields they burned were on land between the two. This was not random. The settlers want to smash the Palestinians and take advantage of any Palestinian response to initiate more outposts. Chris Doyle Settlers have also targeted Palestinian children. They know that Palestinian parents will leave if the children are terrified. Settlers from the notoriously violent settlement of Yitzhar set a school on fire at Urif last week. Close to this village, a member of the Knesset was calmly watching the settler rioters from a viewing platform. Fresh outposts are a core aim. The settlers want to smash the Palestinians and take advantage of any Palestinian response to initiate more outposts. After the Palestinian attack that killed four settlers at Eli, the settlers built several new outposts. The Israeli government chipped in by approving an extra 1,000 units in Eli itself. All over the West Bank, settler attacks on Palestinian communities take their toll. The village of Huwara, to the south of Nablus, experienced a full-scale settler pogrom in February. Settlers also created the coercive environment that forced the inhabitants of Ein Samiya to leave their community north of Nablus in May. But do not be surprised if the settlers are pushing for a full-on Israeli military operation. Why wouldn’t they? They could only come out as winners, with more land and resources. Palestinians would fight back, but the fight would be so unequal as to be ridiculous. Some openly discuss the need for an “Operation Defensive Shield Two,” in reference to the major Israeli military invasion of West Bank cities in 2002 during the Second Intifada, arguably the largest operation since 1967. There would be little defensive or protective about any such operation. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, openly craves a military operation. Palestinians have few options. The Palestinian Authority is nearly bankrupt economically and also morally. Some want a change of leadership, but what could a younger, more dynamic leadership achieve? The PA has barely any authority at all. Israel will not let this change any time soon. Young Palestinians may turn to the Lions’ Den or similar groups. Some will mount attacks on Israeli soldiers, settlers and civilians, yet this is not a fair contest. There is no strategy to the Palestinian attacks — they stem from frustration and anger. They achieve little for Palestinians while handing settler extremists a gift-wrapped opportunity to hit Palestinians harder. But these young men have nothing to live for, not unlike the refugees attempting the deathtrap journeys across the Mediterranean. The international powers just watch. US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides claimed that Washington “will not stand by and watch settler violence.” Unfortunately, standing idly by has become a major talent of US and European diplomats, because that is precisely what the US, EU and UK have been doing, not just this year but for decades. What will stop the escalating settler war? Very little, it seems. Palestinians are left unprotected, even though, under international law, a people under occupation should be. It looks like all the wrong records will be broken this year. • Chris Doyle is director of the London-based Council for Arab-British Understanding. He has worked with the council since 1993 after graduating with a first-class honors degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Exeter University. He has organized and accompanied numerous British parliamentary delegations to Arab countries. Twitter: @Doylech