Israeli lawmaker smashes Palestinian memorial in occupied West Bank

An Israeli Knesset member smashed a Palestinian memorial in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, prompting condemnation. Zvi Sukkot, a member of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party, was filmed smashing the Palestinian Martyrs' Monument in the village of Madama, south of Nablus, with a sledgehammer. In a video posted to Facebook, Sukkot said the memorial commemorated two Palestinians who had killed Israelis and argued that it could not be allowed to remain. “We must take it down,” he said, adding that he wanted the memorial destroyed because children growing up in the village and passing it would be inspired to become “martyrs” themselves. Sukkot, who chairs the Knesset Education Committee, was accompanied by Israeli military forces during the incident, despite the army later saying that the destruction had not been authorised. The Israeli military said its forces had raided several Palestinian villages in the Nablus area after Sukkot submitted a formal request to inspect memorials in Beita, Burin and Madama, according to Israeli public broadcaster Kan 11. The army said the destruction of the Madama memorial was not approved through the proper channels and that its forces halted the demolition. Read more: Israeli lawmaker smashes Palestinian memorial in occupied West Bank People inspect the damaged Palestinian memorial at the Madama village in the northern West Bank on 25 August 2026 (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)