Settlers Occupy Ein Sala Spring Near Ramallah, Uproot 3,000 Trees; Smotrich: 'Destroying the Idea of a Palestinian State'

Al Jazeera's May 12, 2026 Palestine Weekly Wrap documented multiple simultaneous settler violence incidents across the West Bank: armed settlers hiked through the villages of Abwein and Jilijliya near Ramallah, occupying the Ein Sala spring and blocking Palestinian residents' access; settlers overnight uprooted approximately 3,000 Palestinian-planted trees in the northern West Bank (Jalud area); and settlers forced a Palestinian family to exhume and rebury their father near the Tarsala outpost south of Jenin — echoing the highly publicized Sa-Nur cemetery exhumation incident of May 9. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in direct response to the tree uprooting, publicly declared: 'We are building the Land of Israel and destroying the idea of a Palestinian state' — one of the most explicit official ministerial endorsements of settlement expansion during a period of intense international scrutiny. The UN Security Council held an open debate on May 12 in which the UN Deputy Special Coordinator called on member states to 'consolidate the Gaza ceasefire and halt escalating violence and settlement activity in the West Bank.' EU sanctions approved May 11 did not target Smotrich despite advocacy from some member states, owing to objections from others. As of May 12, at least 44 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank in 2026 (including 13 by settlers), with 760+ settler attacks documented — averaging six per day — and approximately 2,000 Palestinians, including 900 children, displaced by settler violence and access restrictions in 2026 alone.