Palestinian victims of Israeli settler attacks face battle for justice

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that Palestinian families in occupied East Jerusalem are using the UN’s International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to Victims of Terrorism to highlight what they see as a long struggle for accountability after killings of relatives by Israeli settlers or Israeli forces. The feature centers on two families: Moira Jilani, whose husband Ziad was killed in Wadi al-Joz in 2010, and Hussein Abu Khdeir, whose 16-year-old son Mohammed was abducted and killed in 2014 in Shu’fat.

According to the article, Ziad Jilani was shot after a confrontation involving Israeli forces and Palestinian youths; his wife says he was later wrongly labeled a terrorist, while the officer involved was never tried after the case was closed for lack of evidence. Mohammed Abu Khdeir’s killing was carried out by three Israeli Jewish citizens, one of whom received a life sentence and the others long prison terms. Hussein Abu Khdeir argues that the attack on his son should also be understood as terrorism and says Palestinians rarely see equal justice under Israeli authority.

The piece places these cases alongside others involving Palestinians killed in Jerusalem and the West Bank, including Ahmed Erekat, Iyad Hallaq, Awdah Hathaleen and journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. It also cites rights groups, including Yesh Din and B’Tselem, to argue that accountability for alleged settler violence remains limited and that attacks on Palestinians have continued during the war that began in October 2023.