Israel-Palestine war: Settler attacks on the rise in West Bank villages

(...) Ben Gvir and Smotrich leading the charge

Late last year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered into a coalition government with Itamar Ben Gvir's Jewish Power party and firebrand Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party.

Ben Gvir's far-right Jewish Power party was founded by Meir Kahane. A far-right rabbi and former MP, he previously led the Kach party, an organisation which was outlawed by Israel after one of its followers gunned down 29 Muslim worshippers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron as they prayed.

Meanwhile, Smotrich, a self-declared "fascist homophobe", was appointed finance minister and also handed broad authority over civilian issues in the West Bank, enabling him to increase settlement construction and thwart Palestinian development.

Since then, Smotrich has been in charge of civilian affairs in Area C of the occupied West Bank, where Israel has full security and civilian control. (...)