Canadian activist injured in settler attack in the West Bank, Ottawa confirms

Israeli army inspectors tour a mosque that was torched and defaced by Israeli settlers overnight, in the West Bank town of Deir Istiya Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

A Canadian activist was wounded in the West Bank after an attack by Israeli settlers, a Global Affairs Canada (GAC) spokesperson confirmed to CTV News Monday.

“Canada strongly condemns the violent acts committed by extremist settlers and opposes any actions or talk about annexation of the Palestinian territories,” the statement reads.

“Under international law, civilians must be protected. We also reiterate our position that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law.”

The Italian foreign ministry also confirmed Sunday that three of its citizens were injured in an attack over the weekend in Ein al-Duyuk.

“The settlers reportedly entered their house, attacked the volunteers, and stole all their personal belongings,” a statement from the ministry reads.

The Canadian government couldn’t confirm the two incidents on Sunday were related, though multiple reports claim all four activists were treated at a hospital in Jericho following the attack.

Settler violence sanctions

On May 16, 2024, Canada announced the Special Economic Measures (Extremist Settler Violence) Regulations, targeting extremist Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Ottawa’s last round of sanctions was implemented back in June 2025 – in co-ordination with the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Norway – targeting two far-right Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

“This round of sanctions lists two individuals for their crucial role in facilitating the significant expansion of settlements and outposts in the West Bank, offering political cover to perpetrators of settler violence, and actively contributing to a more permissive environment for higher levels of harassment and violence by Israeli extremist settlers against Palestinian civilians,” GAC’s statement at the time reads.

In total, so far, Ottawa has imposed sanctions against 15 individuals and seven entities for “participating or facilitating extremist settler violence.”

According to the United Nations’ human rights commission (OHCHR), more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed from settler violence and Israeli forces since Oct. 7, 2023.