An Israeli group that collects information about potential human rights violations against Palestinians says reported incidents of Israeli settler violence have moved from the rural West Bank toward larger, more populated Palestinian cities and towns. The establishment of new settlements and outposts throughout the West Bank has emboldened extremist settlers, who are now encroaching on larger communities that previously were far from the front lines of settler violence, Yesh Din said in its report released Friday titled “The Next Frontier.” The uptick in violence corresponds with the Israeli government’s approval of new settlements and the expansion of outposts that it doesn’t authorize but often leaves in place, according to the report. “As outposts advance deeper into Palestinian territory, violence, harassment and terror follow,” Yesh Din wrote. Some 3 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule in the West Bank alongside roughly 560,000 Israeli settlers.
