Al Jazeera investigation says some West Bank settlers also serve as soldiers

An investigation published on 10 November says some Israeli settlers involved in attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank also return in military uniforms to issue orders. The report says this overlap is helping blur the line between civilian settlers and the security forces that are meant to enforce order in the territory. It focuses on incidents in Tal, southwest of Nablus, and says the pattern has wider implications for violence, land seizures and displacement.

The investigation says facial matching and local testimony identified Yitzhak Levi Filant, a settler from Yitzhar known locally as Yaqoub, in one of the clearest examples. According to the report, he was seen assaulting farmers in civilian clothes and later returning to the same village in a military uniform, carrying a military-issued weapon and issuing orders to residents. The report also says Filant was placed on a United States sanctions list in August 2024 and later removed in early 2025.

The findings were presented as evidence supporting long-standing claims by Palestinian communities, human rights groups, activists and journalists that settler violence is not isolated. The report says settlers have attacked, burned and taken over entire villages, and that the overlap with military roles strengthens perceptions of institutional backing. Abbas Melhem, director of the Palestinian Farmers Union, is quoted describing the situation as a daily reality for farmers facing intimidation in the field.

The report matters because the West Bank remains one of the most sensitive arenas in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where questions of authority, land control and civilian protection are closely linked. If people who attack Palestinians in civilian clothing can later appear in uniform and issue orders, that raises concerns about accountability and the separation between military power and settler activity. It also adds to scrutiny of how violence against Palestinian farmers and residents is handled on the ground.

The investigation says the pattern is not limited to Tal. It points to Hebron as another place where the overlap has had deadlier consequences, describing a March 7 attack near the Susya settlement. In that case, a settler named Nahman is said to have encroached on Palestinian land and summoned reinforcements, after which an off-road vehicle arrived carrying the brothers Shem Tov and Luria Luski.

According to the report, Luria Luski, who has appeared in military uniform in other footage, opened fire during that attack. The report says the shooting killed Amir Shanaran and severely wounded his cousin. It also says Shanaran's father described the aftermath, underscoring the human cost of the violence documented in the investigation.

The report places these incidents within a broader pattern of alleged settler violence, land seizures and displacement in the occupied West Bank. It says the evidence gathered by the investigation aligns with concerns raised by Palestinian communities and rights groups about institutional support for settlers. The report does not say whether any official inquiry has been opened into the specific cases described.

What remains unclear is how widespread this overlap is, whether the individuals identified were acting under formal orders, and what response, if any, will follow from the authorities involved. The investigation highlights a continuing challenge for residents in areas such as Tal and Hebron, where the boundaries between civilian settlers and armed personnel are described as increasingly difficult to distinguish. Further scrutiny is likely to focus on the specific cases named in the report and on whether any accountability measures are taken.

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