Amnesty International accuses Israel's government of a state-led "ethnic cleansing" campaign in the occupied West Bank, detailed in a new report. The group alleges that state-backed settler violence and accelerated settlement expansion are deliberate policies to forcibly displace Palestinians and annex land. Since 2023, 212 new outposts have been built and over 5,900 Palestinians displaced. Amnesty calls for international sanctions on Israeli officials.
West Bank ethnic cleansing campaign
- ▪The report alleges the campaign is a deliberate state policy to forcibly displace Palestinians and annex land, not the work of "rogue" settlers
- ▪Amnesty International's new report accuses the Israeli government of a state-led "ethnic cleansing" campaign in the occupied West Bank
State-led annexation policy
- ▪By April 30, 2026, the current Israeli government had authorized 102 new settlements, the most by any single government in Israel's history
- ▪The Israeli government, formed in late 2022, has made formal annexation of Area C an explicit policy objective
- ▪Over 700,000 Israelis live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, which the international community largely considers illegal
- ▪Between 2023 and 2025, the Israeli government advanced plans for 50,785 new settlement housing units
Settler violence outpost expansion
- ▪Settler violence is described in the report as a core component of a state-sanctioned campaign, not the result of a few 'bad apples'
- ▪Since the October 2023 Hamas attack, settlers have taken control of about 12.5% of West Bank territory, making it inaccessible to Palestinians
- ▪By April 2026, Israeli settlers had established 363 outposts in the West Bank, with 212 of them created since 2023
Palestinian displacement demolitions
- ▪By the end of April 2026, at least 5,910 Palestinians had been forcibly displaced, according to UN data
- ▪According to UN data, at least 117 Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities were fully or partially displaced between January 2023 and April 2026
- ▪Israeli police and military ignored two Supreme Court rulings in 2024 and 2025 ordering them to protect Zanuta's residents and facilitate their return
- ▪The village of Khirbet Zanuta was entirely displaced and destroyed after Israeli settlers established a nearby outpost and began a campaign of violent attacks
- ▪Between January 2023 and April 2026, Israeli authorities demolished 3,407 Palestinian homes and structures in Area C, displacing 2,996 people
International community inaction
- ▪In June 2026, the UK, Canada, France, and Norway announced coordinated sanctions against Israeli networks involved in West Bank settler violence
- ▪Amnesty International accuses the international community of being complicit or too passive in response to Israel's violations of international law
Amnesty sanctions recommendations
- ▪Amnesty's report calls on states to ban all trade and investment that contributes to Israel's occupation and to impose sanctions on implicated officials
- ▪The report names Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ministers Smotrich, Ben-Gvir, Strock, and Katz as officials who should be sanctioned
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