Israeli settlers have carried out a large number of violent attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in recent days. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, there were more than 100 attacks by nationalistically motivated Israelis in ten days.

In addition to Palestinians, Jewish settlers also attacked Israeli activists and even the Israeli military. The latter also led to widespread outrage in Israel.

An Israeli security official told Haaretz newspaper that many of the perpetrators were involved in the violence for the first time: “Now older adults and women with children are also joining in and going crazy.”

One of the most shared incidents was an attack on a 70-year-old Israeli activist near the Jewish settlement of Ma’ale Amos. She says she was helping Palestinian farmers harvest olives when she was being abused by settlers. She was hospitalized with broken ribs and a perforated lung. The attack was photographed and shared widely on social media:

Several incidents occurred in and around the Palestinian village of Huwara in the north of the West Bank. Israeli settlers from surrounding settlements repeatedly attacked Palestinian businesses and other possessions, including an axe, clubs and other weapons. In some images, the Israeli army barely seemed to intervene, something critics often accuse the army of.

According to the settlers, the attacks on Palestinians were in response to Palestinians firing at Israeli vehicles in the village. Israeli journalist Oren Ziv filmed one of the settler attacks last week:

The violence was also directed against the Israeli army. On Wednesday, a group of settlers fired pepper spray at four Israeli soldiers trying to thwart an attack on Palestinians. The attack on the military was widely condemned in Israel. Prime Minister Yair Lapid, for example, described the perpetrators as dangerous criminals, and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu also spoke of a disgrace.

The settler violence comes against a backdrop of escalating tensions in the West Bank. More than 120 Palestinians in the region have been killed by the Israeli military so far this year, the highest number since 2015. Many of the deaths have resulted from raids by the Israeli military to detain Palestinians. These raids intensified after 19 Israelis were killed in terrorist attacks by Palestinians in the spring.

And the number of Palestinian attacks on Israeli soldiers in occupied territories has also increased in recent weeks. Two soldiers were killed in Palestinian shelling and several other soldiers and civilians were wounded. Much of the attacks have been alleged by recently formed armed militias of Palestinian youth with little regard for Palestinian authority.

During a search for the perpetrators, Israel largely sealed off a Palestinian refugee camp from the outside world for days. Additional checkpoints have also been set up around the city of Nablus, making it difficult to get in and out of the city.

More than 600,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as about 3 million Palestinians. Their settlements are illegal under international law. Here are these positions:

The forthcoming Israeli general election seems to be fueling the violence. A leader of a far-right party, Itamar Ben-Gvir, pulled out a gun in Israel-annexed East Jerusalem and threatened to shoot Palestinian stone-throwers. Ben-Gvir’s party is popular with settlers and is heading for a record number of seats.

The violence comes on the eve of a visit by Prime Minister Mark Rutte. On Monday and Tuesday, Rutte will speak with Israeli Prime Minister Lapid and Palestinian President Abbas, among others.