Australia and its allies will co-ordinate on targeted sanctions “and other measures” as attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the Occupied West Bank surge. A United Nations report on Tuesday alleged at least seven Palestinians had been killed and more than 800 injured in the past year, a 130 per cent rise on 2024.Violence in the territories, which are bisected by areas of Israeli and nominal Palestinian civilian control, has risen exponentially since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel that left more than 1200 Israelis dead and as Israel’s government approves a rapid expansion of settlements, which are illegal according to international law. In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, France, Norway, and the UK pledged to respond to the “deteriorating situation in the West Bank” through “co-ordinated action to introduce sanctions and other measures to hold extremist settlers accountable for the horrific levels of settler violence against Palestinian civilians”.“Extremist violent settlers, with the backing of their supporters, continue to attack Palestinians and abuse their human rights,” the statement said.“They use violence to displace Palestinians, destroy property and perpetuate the illegal settlement enterprise, undermining the viability of the State of Palestine and the prospects for peaceful coexistence.”The ministers said violent settlers had for too long “been able to act with near impunity” amid an explosion in illegal Israeli settlements across the West Bank.“In some cases, settler violence takes place under the protection of Israel’s security forces,” the statement said.“We continue to urge the government of Israel to take action to ensure meaningful accountability for violence in the West Bank. “The government of Israel should ensure every attack is swiftly and thoroughly investigated, take action against the outposts and organisations that allow violence to flourish and stop the incitement of violence.”Appearing during Senate estimates, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong last week said she wished the “people of Palestine were able to live in security behind agreed borders, and there was peace with the people of Israel”.“We all wish – well, I wish that,” she said.It came after the Albanese government for the first time sanctioned Israeli settler farms in the West Bank.Canberra and Tel Aviv had, at times, found themselves at loggerheads in recent years following Hamas’s 2023 attack and Israel’s subsequent assault and killing of more than 75,000 people on the Gaza Strip.Last year, Australia and several of its allies, including Canada and the UK, recognised the state of Palestine; however, full representation – including a diplomatic mission – were predicated on reforms to the Palestinian Authority, which nominally administers areas of the West Bank. In its report, the UN said Israeli authorities were “directly involved” in settler attacks through financial and military support as well as by granting impunity from prosecution.Earlier this month, Israel Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced a major expansion of settlements in the West Bank, approving more than 2100 new homes and moving to legitimise existing outposts. The UN report also noted 249 cases of execution and “severe physical violence between 2024 and 2025” that were attributed to Hamas. It also pointed to a “notable increase” in attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups in 2023.