Amnesty accuses Israel of ‘state-led’ ethnic cleansing in West Bank; IDF rejects charge

Amnesty International accused Israel Wednesday of conducting a “state-sponsored” campaign of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank against Bedouin and Palestinian herding communities over the last three and a half years, designed to accelerate the annexation of the territory.

The report by Amnesty, a frequent and ardent critic of Israel, detailed the severe violence engaged in by settler extremists against such communities, and what it said is the failure of Israeli authorities to prosecute the extremists who harass them, vandalize their property, and on numerous occasions have severely wounded or killed Palestinians inside their own towns and villages.

The report also detailed the massive increase in the establishment of new settlements by the Israeli government, alongside illegal herding outposts established by settlers, as part of what Amnesty said is an effort to drive Palestinians off the land — in particular in Area C, where Israel has full security and civilian control under the Oslo Accords and which constitutes some 60 percent of the West Bank.

The organization cited figures from the UN showing that some 117 predominantly Bedouin and herding Palestinian communities “have faced either full or partial displacement between January 2023 and April 2026,” amounting to at least 5,910 people who Amnesty said have been forcibly displaced.

“Over the past three and a half years, Israeli authorities have accelerated a state-sponsored campaign of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, uprooting, dispossessing and forcibly transferring Palestinian communities,” Amnesty alleged.

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In the report titled “Erasing anything Palestinian: Israel’s ethnic cleansing of West Bank Bedouin and herding communities,” Amnesty accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government of catering to the settler movement’s nationalist agenda.

“It has accelerated settlement expansion and land grabs, increased financial and logistical support to settlements, and it has armed settlers, thereby enabling a brutal state-sanctioned campaign of settler violence,” the report said.

“What we are witnessing is deliberate, state-led annexation, in complete violation of international law, unfolding before the eyes of the entire world,” claimed Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general.

“Our report exposes that these abuses are not the result of a few ‘bad apples.’ Settler violence is a core component of a state-sanctioned campaign of ethnic cleansing, central to maintaining Israel’s system of apartheid.”

A growing number of rights groups have branded Israel’s military rule in the West Bank apartheid, a charge vehemently denied by Jerusalem.

Amnesty said it interviewed 45 Palestinians from 12 communities, who were either displaced or at risk of displacement, as well as 19 lawyers, activists who witnessed incidents of settler violence, journalists and Israeli and Palestinian NGO representatives.

The IDF said in response to the report that its mission is “to safeguard the security of all residents of Judea and Samaria, Palestinians and Israelis alike,” adding that in situations where there is a suspicion that troops did not adhere to IDF orders, those incidents are “thoroughly examined, and in appropriate cases disciplinary measures are taken by commanders or a criminal investigation is opened to clarify the circumstances.”

It added that when troops encounter cases of law violations by Israeli civilians, including violent incidents or incidents directed against Palestinians or their property, “the troops are required to act to stop the violation and, if necessary, detain or apprehend the suspects until police arrive at the scene.”

However, critics cite growing concerns that IDF units tasked with protecting civilians and thwarting attacks on Palestinians are manned by some of those allegedly behind the violence.

Under the authority of far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, whose secondary position in the Defense Ministry gives him wide influence over West Bank policy, the government has authorized settlement construction and legalized wildcat outposts at an unprecedented pace. From late 2022 to April 2026, the government approved or legalized 103 settlements, a major increase over previous years.

Meanwhile, critics have accused the government and law enforcement of turning a blind eye to violent attacks by settler extremists, which have become increasingly deadly in recent years and occur on a near-daily basis. Arrests are rare and prosecutions are even less common.

The military recorded 867 incidents of nationalistic crime and settler violence in 2025, up from 682 incidents in 2024.

The Prime Minister’s Office and the Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Amnesty report.