You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.Violent settlers are not merely clearing Palestinians from land under Israel’s control. They are attacking areas where Israel agreed to Palestinian self-governance.Muhammad Gawanmeh, 45, sat outside his family’s tent with his wife and two of his young sons soon after the attack in Al-Awsaj, northeast of Jericho, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank this past week.They Fled to Safety in Palestinian Territory, Then Settlers Attacked AgainViolent settlers are not merely clearing Palestinians from land under Israel’s control. They are attacking areas where Israel agreed to Palestinian self-governance.Muhammad Gawanmeh, 45, sat outside his family’s tent with his wife and two of his young sons soon after the attack in Al-Awsaj, northeast of Jericho, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank this past week.Credit...Listen · 10:12 min May 16, 2026Muhammad Gawanmeh recognized the black pickup when it first pulled in front of his tent, trailed by an ATV carrying Israeli settlers he also recognized.In January, he had fled his home of more than 40 years in the Israeli-occupied West Bank after violent settlers repeatedly attacked his village, wielding assault rifles and even setting up a base of operations in the middle of his neighborhood. Mr. Gawanmeh held on until the very end before he uprooted his wife, children and extended family, the last of more than two dozen households to abandon hope.With nowhere else to go, he erected a tent in the safest place he could find in the hamlet of Al-Awsaj, a sun-bleached stretch of land carved from stony hillsides, deep in territory that is indisputably under Palestinian administration.And yet last weekend, here were the same settlers again, seven men in all, sending a current of fear through the recently displaced families who cowered in their tents as Mr. Gawanmeh, 45, stood outside.The attack began right away.ImageMohamad Gawanmeh’s encampment in Al-Awsaj, northeast of the town of Jericho in the West Bank, where the attack took place.Settler violence has grown commonplace in the West Bank in recent years, part of a campaign of harassment, abuse and forced displacement. Since Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war, more than 700,000 Israelis have settled in the West Bank among more than three million Palestinians.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT