State enables settler violence, forcible displacement in West Bank: Israeli NGOs

The Israeli government is sponsoring violence by illegal settlers to displace Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, two rights groups said Friday.

A report by Yesh Din and Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), two Israeli groups, said the Israeli government “is responsible for the commission of the war crime of forcible transfer of Palestinians in the West Bank.”

“This crime is committed with the state’s support, by its agents or citizens,” it said.

“In less than two years, about 100,000 dunams (24,710 acres) of land east of Allon Road have been almost completely emptied of the Palestinians who lived on it for decades,” according to the report.

It added the displacement of the Palestinians “was not a voluntary departure, but a forcible transfer effected by a combination of factors: years of institutional oppression, daily physical violence, invasive psychological terror, and catastrophic economic harm.”

The report voiced concern that the Israeli government-sponsored patterns and practices “will evolve into a longterm government strategy of ethnically cleansing Palestinians, at least in Area C, which accounts for 60% of the West Bank’s territory.”

Under the 1995 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was divided into three portions — Area A, B and C. Area C is under Israel’s administrative and security control until a final status agreement is reached with the Palestinians.

The Israeli government has yet to comment on the report.

The international community, including the U.N., considers Israeli settlements illegal under international law. The U.N. has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution, a framework seen as key to resolving the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Since the start of Israel’s current war on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli forces and illegal settlers have intensified attacks across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, killing more than 944 Palestinians, injuring 7,000, and arresting north of 15,800, according to official Palestinian figures.

The International Court of Justice declared Israel’s longstanding occupation of Palestinian territories illegal in July. It demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.