The connotation is that it’s bad, yes. Reduce it to “The Israelis are seriously restricting the opportunities of the Palestinians” and probably there are many Israel supporters who would agree it’s true but say Israel’s not in the wrong. The use of the word “oppress” is how you would express “seriously restricting opportunities” if you wanted to communicate that it was bad.
The connotation is that it’s bad, yes. Reduce it to “The Israelis are seriously restricting the opportunities of the Palestinians” and probably there are many Israel supporters who would agree it’s true but say Israel’s not in the wrong. The use of the word “oppress” is how you would express “seriously restricting opportunities” if you wanted to communicate that it was bad.