Israeli President Isaac Herzog this week condemned the latest outbreak of settler-instigated violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, decrying a recent arson attack near the city of Tulkarm as “shocking and serious” in some of his strongest public statements on the longstanding trend to date. Herzog’s comments come during the seasonal olive harvest that brings Palestinian farmers into their neighboring fields, often setting the stage for attacks from groups of Israeli settlers. And according to U.N. monitors, settler violence against Palestinians reached a record high of 1,500 incidents this year.

‘Act decisively to eradicate the phenomenon’
This year’s “situation on the ground is out of control,” said Anton Goodman, the director of partnerships at Rabbis for Human Rights, on the Haaretz podcast. The NGO, which monitors rights abuses in the occupied territories, has never seen “such a peak moment of violence” impacting “so many communities” in the West Bank as they have this olive season. In the latest instance, “dozens” of Israeli settlers attacked the Deir Sharaf Bedouin village and Al-Juneidi dairy factory near Tulkarm on Tuesday, “brandishing clubs and setting fire to parked vehicles,” said CNN.

This attack “crosses a red line,” Herzog said on X, urging Israeli officials to “act decisively to eradicate the phenomenon.” In doing so, he offered a “rare and powerful voice” to the ordinarily “muted criticism by top Israeli officials,” said The Associated Press. Rights groups have long criticized the Israeli government’s alleged tendency to “turn a blind eye to the violence,” including by dispatching soldiers to incidents, only for them to “frequently leave without detaining the assailants or arrest only Palestinians,” said The New York Times.

Bad apples ‘tarnish a law-abiding public’
Within the Israeli Defense Forces, the uptick in West Bank violence against Palestinians has been pinned on “fringe anarchist teenagers” who need “intervention from welfare and education institutions,” said a briefing from IDF Central Command obtained by Haaretz. Those responsible are a “criminal minority tarnishing a law-abiding public” whose actions “violate our values, cross a red line and divert forces’ attention from their mission,” said IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir yesterday during a training exercise in the West Bank. IDF Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, who leads the country’s central command, has “demanded expanded legal powers” to “tackle the growing wave of settler violence,” said YNet News.

This week’s parliamentary elections in Iraq have been closely watched from far beyond its borders, as the young democracy is caught up in a power struggle between the U.S., Israel and Iran. Since Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani came to power in 2022, Iraq has been relatively stable. But despite his coalition winning the most votes this week, he will not gain enough seats to independently form a government and guarantee himself a second term. What comes could test the country’s stability. 

How are Iran and Israel involved? 
Iraq represents a “vital sphere of influence” for Iran, which has been severely weakened by Israeli strikes, Western sanctions and the Trump administration, said the Middle East Council on Global Affairs. Iraq’s parliament is strongly influenced by a coalition of Iran-aligned militias known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), “part of a region-wide network” that includes Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. 

Israel has “wiped out” Hezbollah’s leadership in Lebanon, as well as “decapitating” the Houthi government in Yemen, while the regime of key Iran ally Bashar al-Assad has been toppled in Syria. And Baghdad fears that Israel’s campaign “could now turn to the PMF” in Iraq. Against that backdrop, this election is “critical to maintaining Iraq’s status as the lung through which Iran breathes.” 

And the US? 
The U.S. still “holds significant sway” in Iraq, where its forces continue to be targets for pro-Iran groups, said Al Jazeera. The PMF has a long track record of attacks on U.S. bases, and Washington is pressuring Baghdad to disarm them. 

Iraq has “so far avoided the worst of the regional upheaval caused by the Gaza war,” said Reuters. But if the next government fails to break Tehran’s grip and dismantle the Iran-backed militant groups, it will face the “wrath” of the U.S. and Israel. 

The future
Internally, few believe these elections will bring meaningful change. The growing young electorate sees the elections as a “vehicle for established parties to divide up Iraq’s oil wealth,” said Reuters.

Activists take part in a protest against fossil fuels at the U.N. Climate Change Conference, or COP30, in Belém, Brazil. “We can’t eat money,” said a protesting member of the Amazon’s Indigenous Tupinambá people to Reuters. “We want our lands free from agribusiness, oil exploration, illegal miners and illegal loggers.”
Adriano Machado / Reuters

The people may be long gone, but what they left behind fascinates. These ghost towns are time capsules, giving visitors a look at what life was like in each community during its heyday. 

Bodie, California
During its peak in the late 1800s, Bodie (pictured above) was a rollicking place, a “classic Wild West adventure story brought to life,” said Mental Floss. Its decline started when the gold ran out and mines closed and was hurried along by two devastating fires that destroyed the majority of its structures. Bodie became a state park in 1962 and has since been preserved in a state of “arrested decay.” 

Burke, Idaho
This town’s location in a “comically narrow canyon” resulted in “some wonderfully creative architecture,” including the Tiger Hotel, said Atlas Obscura. Due to a lack of space, the railroad tracks had to cut through the lobby, and five train cars chugged into the building every day. What remains is a mix of “decaying” buildings, abandoned mining equipment and an unmarked cemetery filled with destroyed headstones.

Garnet, Montana
This is one of the best-preserved ghost towns in Montana and a “wonderful place” to learn about the state’s history and culture, said Travel and Leisure. Visitors can explore Kelly’s Saloon, stop by the F.A. Davey General Store, and “walk across the creaky floors” of the J.K. Wells Hotel, making it easy to imagine what Garnet was like back in the day.