Canadian injured in West Bank in what local group calls assault by Israeli settlers

OTTAWA — Global Affairs Canada said Monday it is aware of a Canadian citizen injured in the West Bank and is providing consular help after what local activists described as an attack by Israeli settlers.

Manal Tamimi, a prominent activist in the West Bank, met Monday with a Canadian woman she said was among four foreigners attacked early Sunday by Israeli settlers in the Ein ad-Duyuk area northwest of the city of Jericho.

“She has bruises all over her body,” Tamimi told The Canadian Press moments after visiting the Canadian woman Monday evening in Ramallah.

A local organization called Unarmed Civilian Protection in Palestine said settlers attacked one Canadian and three Italians who were taking part in programs to protect Palestinians from settler violence through a group called Faz3a.

Tamimi said about 10 settlers entered the apartment where the four were staying Sunday around 4 a.m. She said they kicked and punched the four activists but did not use weapons.

She said two settlers stood outside with rifles, warning Palestinian locals they’d be shot if they tried to intervene.

She said the attacking settlers told the four they were not allowed to be in the West Bank. “Of course, the settlers, they stole their belongings, their passports, the money, visa (cards), phones, everything,” Tamimi said.

Tamimi said the only male attacked — an Italian — suffered the worst injuries. Both Italian women and the one Canadian woman were bruised in multiple places.

Tamimi said the Canadian has bruises on her back and face and some sort of rib injury but not a fracture. Locals have found her discarded passport and credit cards, but not her phone, she said.

Local groups said the settlers also destroyed solar panels and stole sheep, echoing numerous other attacks that have become much more frequent and violent over the past two years.

Global Affairs Canada wrote that it “strongly condemns the violent acts committed by extremist settlers” and opposes any talk of Israel annexing the Palestinian territories, something called for by some senior Israeli ministers.

The department notes Canada has imposed four rounds of sanctions related to extremist settler violence targeting Palestinians.

The Palestinian Authority denounced the “colonist attacks” and called on governments to sanction settlers and the Israeli government for breaches of international law. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and Canada deems all Israeli settlements there to be illegal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 1, 2025.