Israeli lawmaker smashes Palestinian memorial

Israeli lawmaker smashes Palestinian memorial

Israeli far-right lawmaker Tzvi Succot smashed a memorial listing the names of Palestinians killed in Madama, a village south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, Israeli media reported Tuesday.

Succot, a member of the Religious Zionism party, shared a photo on X showing him using a large hammer to destroy the memorial. He said he had repeatedly urged the Israeli army to remove what he called “terror memorials” across the area.

Video footage circulating online also showed Succot damaging the monument while Israeli soldiers stood nearby.

According to Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Succot had sought permission more than a month earlier to visit Palestinian villages, and authorities approved his request several days before the visit. The lawmaker spent about 30 minutes in Madama and damaged the memorial during his visit.

The Israeli army said it had not received prior notice that Succot planned to destroy the monument.

Meanwhile, attacks by Israeli settlers across the occupied West Bank rose sharply during the first seven months of the year, according to the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission.

The commission recorded 4,113 attacks from January through July, compared with 2,524 during the same period last year, marking a 63% increase.

It linked the rise to the expansion of illegal settlement outposts, particularly pastoral settlements, along with the increased arming of settlers and their integration into security formations. The commission also pointed to Israeli military protection and a lack of accountability.

The agency warned that weak international action had allowed settler attacks to grow from isolated incidents into a broader means of pressuring Palestinian communities and driving displacement.