Amnesty International accuses Israel of state-led ethnic cleansing in West Bank

The Israeli government is leading an ethnic cleansing campaign against Palestinians in the West Bank amid a spike in settler attacks, according to a report released Wednesday by Amnesty International. The report accuses Israel of implementing a policy of formal annexation to expand its control over the Palestinian territory. 

Details: The 150-page report details how the Israeli government is accelerating what it described as a state-led campaign of annexation and forced displacement in the occupied West Bank, namely targeting the Bedouin and herding communities in Area C, which is under complete Israeli security and administrative control and makes up around 60% of the territory.

“The Israeli government has made formal annexation an explicit policy objective. It is implementing the settler movement’s religious nationalist agenda,” the report said, adding that this campaign is state-led and not driven by “rogue settlers” as claimed by some in the international community.

According to Amnesty International, Israel has approved numerous settlement projects, leading to accelerated settlement expansion and land grabs, while increasing financial and logistical support for settlements.

The London-based human rights organization identified at least 43 annexation-related bills submitted to the Knesset by various parties, including ultranationalist parties, between January 2023 and November 2025.

“They reflect a broader political agenda to entrench Israeli presence and exercise of governmental powers in the occupied West Bank, in direct contravention of international law and the rules of military occupation,” the report added.

Amnesty also said its research showed that “Palestinians are being forcibly erased from their ancestral lands, cut off from their livelihoods and terrorized into fleeing their homes amidst an unprecedented surge in settler attacks, openly condoned and actively facilitated by an Israeli government that boasts of its intent to formally annex large swathes of Palestinian land.”

Israel has not yet commented on the report.

Background: Since the Hamas-Israel war broke out in the Gaza Strip in October 2023, the West Bank has witnessed rising settler violence and daily military raids on towns and villages.

A May report by the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA documented at least 2,594 settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank between January 2025 and April 2026 that resulted in casualties or property damage.

OCHA data also showed that 39,806 Palestinians were displaced by settler violence, demolitions and Israeli military operations.  

On Wednesday, a group of settlers stormed the village of Jorat al-Shamaa in the Bethlehem governorate, erecting mobile homes on land planted with grapevines and olive trees, the state-run Palestinian WAFA news agency reported.

Another incident was reported near the town of Tuqu', also in the Bethlehem governorate, where settlers threw stones at Palestinian vehicles on Tuesday night.

Earlier that day, Israeli settlers vandalized the water network in the village of Rashaydeh in Bethlehem, disrupting water supplies and threatening the livelihoods of the residents who primarily rely on livestock herding to make ends meet, according to WAFA.  

As of March 2025, at least 233,600 Israeli settlers lived in occupied east Jerusalem, and around 503,732 lived in the rest of the West Bank in 147 Israeli settlements and 224 outposts, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, both internationally recognized as occupied territory, are considered illegal under international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from transferring its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.

Israel disputes this interpretation and has continued to expand settlements over the years.

Know more: Last week, Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, announced that a planning committee had approved a new plan to build 2,162 housing units in three West Bank settlements.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the major expansion project, warning that Israel’s “provocative” policies were pushing the region toward more violence. In a statement issued by his office, Abbas called on the United States to stop the Israeli “madness.”

Meanwhile, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard has accused the international community of either being “complicit in or far too passive in the face of Israel’s repeated and gross violations of international law.”

“Countries, particularly those with influence over Israel, including the USA, the UK, Germany, as well as Italy and other EU and Arab states, must immediately ban all trade, investment and any form of cooperation or financial assistance that contribute to Israel's unlawful occupation, system of apartheid and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” Callamard was cited as saying in Amnesty’s Wednesday report. “In addition, all countries must impose targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against Israeli officials directly implicated in these acts.”

On Tuesday, the UK, Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand and Norway imposed joint sanctions on Israeli individuals and entities backing settlements in the West Bank, including Smotrich.

France has banned Smotrich from entering the country as part of the coordinated measures. 

“Extremist violent settlers, with the backing of their supporters, continue to attack Palestinians and abuse their human rights,” the six countries said in a statement. “For too long, violent settlers have been able to act with near impunity, and settlement expansion and creation of outposts continue with the support and facilitation of the government of Israel.”

In February, the Israeli cabinet approved a new set of measures that facilitate the purchase of land in the West Bank by settlers, which would further tighten Israeli control.

Commenting on the measures at the time, President Donald Trump, Israel’s main ally, said he opposed the Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank.

“I am against annexation,” he told Axios.