Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to take action against a violent “handful of extremists” among Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, following clashes and another attack on Monday.

On Monday evening, homes and vehicles in a Palestinian village were set on fire, just hours after members of the so-called Hilltop Youth clashed with security forces who were dismantling an illegal settler outpost.

Violence in the West Bank has surged since the Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war in October 2023.

In recent weeks, attacks attributed to Israeli settlers—particularly those living in outposts—have increased, targeting Palestinians and sometimes even Israeli soldiers.

“I view with great severity the violent riots and the attempt by a handful of extremists to take the law into their own hands,” Netanyahu said, calling the perpetrators “a group that does not represent” settlers in the Palestinian territories.

He added, “I call on law enforcement authorities to deal with the rioters to the fullest extent of the law.

I intend to address this personally and convene the relevant ministers as soon as possible to confront this serious issue.”

Earlier on Monday, Israeli security forces deployed hundreds of personnel to evacuate and demolish the illegal Tzur Misgavi outpost in the Gush Etzion area, near the Palestinian town of Sair.

Security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades during clashes with extremist settlers, who were trying to evict Palestinian residents and establish settlements without government approval.

Some demonstrators climbed onto a digger and stood atop structures as bulldozers demolished them.

At least 10 prefabricated homes were destroyed, leaving women with young children sitting amid the rubble.

Village attacked

Hours later, the Israeli military said it had been dispatched alongside police to the nearby Palestinian village of Jab’a, around 30 kilometres southwest of Jerusalem, following reports of “dozens of Israeli civilians who set fire to and vandalised homes and vehicles”.

“Israeli security forces at the scene are conducting searches to locate involved individuals. The incident is still ongoing,” it said in a statement.

“These violent incidents divert the attention of commanders and soldiers from their primary mission of defence and counter-terrorism.”

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said: “The riot of the Hilltop Youth in the village of Jab’a is another stage in the escalating violence.”

The United Nations said October had been the worst month for West Bank settler violence since it began recording incidents in 2006, with 264 attacks that caused casualties or property damage.

Almost none of the perpetrators have been held to account by the Israeli authorities.

Shaming Judaism

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the “Jewish rioters” in the West Bank were harming Israel, “shaming Judaism and causing damage to the settlement enterprise”.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said the government would “continue to develop and grow settlements” while upholding the law “and the stability of the region, as he condemned the “criminal anarchists”.

Israel’s military chief Eyal Zamir last week pledged to halt settler violence in the West Bank, following a wave of attacks targeting Palestinians.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and more than 500,000 Israelis now live there in settlements, alongside some three million Palestinians.

While all Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory are illegal under international law, outposts are also prohibited under Israeli law.

However, many end up being legalised by the Israeli authorities.

At least 1,006 Palestinians, including militants, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the Gaza war started, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

During the same period, 43 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the West Bank, according to official Israeli figures.

The UN Security Council on Monday approved a US-drafted resolution backing President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza and authorizing the deployment of an international stabilization force in the Palestinian territory.

Israel and Hamas last month endorsed the first phase of Trump’s 20-point Gaza proposal — a cease-fire in their two-year conflict and a hostage-release agreement — but UN approval is viewed as essential for legitimizing a transitional governing body and assuring countries considering contributing troops.

According to the text, UN member states may participate in the Trump-chaired Board of Peace, envisioned as an interim authority tasked with overseeing Gaza’s reconstruction and economic revival.

The resolution also authorizes the establishment of an international stabilization force responsible for demilitarizing Gaza, including dismantling weapons and eliminating militant infrastructure.

Hamas, however, reiterated in a statement that it will not give up its arms, asserting that its struggle against Israel constitutes legitimate resistance — a position that could set the group on a collision course with the newly mandated force.

“The resolution imposes an international guardianship over the Gaza Strip, something our people and factions reject,” Hamas said in its statement following the vote.

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said the measure — which includes Trump’s full 20-point plan as an annex — “lays out a viable path toward Palestinian self-determination … where rockets are replaced by olive branches and a political horizon can finally emerge.”

“It breaks Hamas’ hold, and it ensures Gaza can rise free from the shadow of terror — more stable, more prosperous, and more secure,” Waltz told the Security Council ahead of the vote.

Russia, which had earlier hinted it might veto the resolution, ultimately abstained, allowing it to pass. China also abstained, with both delegations criticizing the limited role envisioned for the UN in Gaza’s future.

“Essentially, the council is giving its blessing to a US initiative based solely on Washington’s assurances, handing full control of the Gaza Strip to the Board of Peace and the ISF, whose modalities we still know nothing about,” Russian ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said after the vote.

The Palestinian Authority, meanwhile, welcomed the resolution and said it is prepared to help implement it. Diplomats noted that the PA’s endorsement last week played a crucial role in preventing a Russian veto.

Trump hailed the vote as “a moment of truly historic proportion” in a social-media post, adding that the names of Board members — along with “many more exciting announcements” — would be unveiled in the coming weeks.

‘Pathway’ to statehood

The resolution has proven controversial in Israel because it references a future possibility of statehood for the Palestinians.

The resolution’s text says that “conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood” once the Palestinian Authority has carried out a reform program and Gaza’s redevelopment has advanced.

“The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence,” it says.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under pressure from right-wing members of his government, said on Sunday that Israel remained opposed to a Palestinian state and pledged to demilitarise Gaza “the easy way or the hard way.”

• Trump reverses stance, supports Epstein file release.
• House vote on Epstein files scheduled for Tuesday.
• Democrats say release contains no hoax, only authentic DOJ records.

The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives will vote on Tuesday on forcing the release of investigative files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with passage seen as all but guaranteed after President Donald Trump dropped his long-standing opposition.

Trump’s reversal late on Sunday came days after a House petition gathered enough support to force a vote, a rare instance of House Republicans defying the president’s wishes.

Until the weekend, Trump and his staff had lobbied hard to prevent any further release of files from the criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice into Epstein, a wealthy New York financier who was, for a time, friends with Trump.

“House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide,” the Republican president wrote late on Sunday on social media, calling the matter a “hoax” perpetuated by Democrats.

Democrats, and even some of Trump’s supporters, say there is nothing hoax-like in the release of authentic Justice Department records. Epstein was convicted on Florida state and federal charges related to his sexual abuse and trafficking of teenaged girls. He died in a federal jail cell in Manhattan in 2019 in what was ruled a suicide, a few weeks after he was arrested on new federal charges of sex trafficking children.

California Representative Robert Garcia, the senior Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said Trump failed in his effort to quash the House’s Epstein investigation and changed course because “he’s panicking and has realised he is about to lose this Epstein vote.”

Trump reverses position

Trump’s change of heart came about because he had grown exasperated with Republicans’ fixation on the Epstein files and wanted them to focus on the cost of living and other issues that matter more to voters, a senior White House official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he believed a vote on releasing the files should help put to rest allegations that Trump had any connection to Epstein’s abuse. He later told reporters the vote would be held on Tuesday afternoon.

“He’s never had anything to hide,” Johnson told reporters on Monday, referring to Trump. “He and I had the same concern, that we wanted to ensure that victims of these heinous crimes are completely protected from disclosure.”

Supporters of the files’ release say they also share this concern, and the resolution on which House lawmakers will vote says the Justice Department may withhold or redact the identifying information of victims.

Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who has led the push to release the files, said the House was likely to follow a procedure that would require a two-thirds vote to pass, but that he expects the bill to clear that hurdle, perhaps even unanimously.

If the bill is ultimately agreed to by the Senate, Massie said he was worried the Justice Department might slow-walk the release of documents by citing exemptions for an ongoing investigation. Trump recently directed the department to conduct one targeting Democrats.

“They’re breaking the law if they redact for any of the purposes that we excluded, like embarrassment,” Massie told reporters.

If the House passes the resolution, it would move to the Senate, which would also need to vote on it before sending it to Trump to sign. Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office declined to comment on plans for the bill.

Trump denies Epstein relationship

Trump partied with Epstein in New York and Florida’s Palm Beach in the 1990s and 2000s, along with other members of the US and international power elite.

The president has said his friendship with Epstein ended some time in the 2000s and he had no connection to Epstein’s crimes, and that his political enemies are trying to smear him by insinuating otherwise. Reporters’ questions about Epstein have visibly angered him this year.

Emails released last week by a House committee showed the disgraced financier believed Trump “knew about the girls,” though it was not clear what that phrase meant. The White House said the released emails contained no proof of wrongdoing by Trump.

Last week, Trump instructed the Justice Department to investigate prominent Democrats’ ties to Epstein. US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who earlier this year said a review of the files revealed no further investigative leads, replied to Trump that she would get on it right away.

Many of Trump’s most loyal supporters believe the government is withholding sensitive documents that would reveal Epstein’s ties to powerful public figures who have managed to escape scrutiny.

This has led to Trump falling out with one of his staunchest Republican supporters in Congress, US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, whom he publicly denounced as a traitor after her persistent criticism of how the party has dealt with the Epstein files.