Amnesty International accuses Israel of state-led ethnic cleansing in West Bank
A new report from Amnesty International alleges that Israeli security forces have ignored judicial rulings to protect residents, instead facilitating settler violence as part of an organised policy to accelerate settlement expansion.
Amnesty International has released a report alleging that the displacement of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is part of a deliberate Israeli government strategy of ethnic cleansing, rather than the actions of isolated settlers. The rights group claims settler violence is an integral part of an organised state policy aimed at accelerating annexation and settlement expansion through war crimes and crimes against humanity.
According to United Nations data cited in the report, at least 117 villages have been subject to displacement, forcing approximately 5,910 people from their homes between January 2023 and December 2025. Amnesty stated that Israeli security forces have ignored court orders to protect residents and have instead provided state backing to settlers. The report follows the Israeli Security Cabinet’s approval of 34 new illegal settlements in April, bringing the total approved since late 2022 to 103.
The organisation characterised the displacement campaign as state-sanctioned, state-driven, and state-implemented, rejecting the notion that it is the product of extremist ministers or rogue actors. The report details specific incidents, including the establishment of the illegal Meitarim Farm outpost near the village of Zanuta in 2021, where settlers allegedly broke into homes, emptied water tanks, and pumped sewage onto farmland.
It notes that despite Supreme Court rulings in July 2024 and February 2025 ordering police and military to facilitate residents' return and protect them from settler violence, Israeli forces allegedly ignored these rulings. Far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Orit Strock are cited as distributing weapons, including all-terrain vehicles, to settlers in the Hebron area in April last year, with Smotrich praising settler land seizures.
The report highlights that most affected villages are in Area C, which comprises more than 60 percent of the West Bank and is under full Israeli military and administrative control. Over the period since October 2023, Israeli forces in the West Bank have detained at least 23,000 Palestinians, most of whom were later released.
