El Ciudadano
Original article: Amnistía ante limpieza étnica de Israel contra Palestina: “el mundo debe tomar medidas para detener la anexión de Cisjordania”
International Amnesty: «In Response to the Acceleration of Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians Perpetrated by Israel, the World Must Act to Halt the Annexation of the West Bank»
Key Points Highlighted by Amnesty International
- The pace and scale of annexation measures by the current Israeli government have significantly intensified.
- The ethnic cleansing campaign is state-directed, not driven by uncontrolled settlers or extremist ministers.
- Exponential increase in state-backed settler violence terrorizes and displaces thousands of Palestinians to annex land.
- Communities remain severely exposed to displacement and must be protected from uprooting.
- States should halt commercial, cooperative, and investment relations that contribute to the illegal occupation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing, and impose sanctions on involved authorities.
Amnesty International has highlighted that both the tacit and explicit support of the international community for Israel’s crimes, including genocide and apartheid, has emboldened Israeli authorities to escalate a brutal campaign of forced displacement of Palestinians and expand control over lands in the West Bank. The organization details in a new report how Israeli authorities are accelerating annexation through a state-driven ethnic cleansing campaign against Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities in Area C of occupied West Bank, committing the crime against humanity of forced transfer.
In the report titled Erasing All That Is Palestinian: Ethnic Cleansing of Bedouin and Herding Communities Perpetrated by Israel in the West Bank, it explains how the Israeli government has made formal annexation an explicit aim of its policies. It is implementing the nationalist and religious agenda of the settler movement, accelerating the expansion of settlements and land appropriations while providing financial and logistical support to settlers and arming them, leading to a state-approved brutal campaign of settler violence and Palestinian displacement in Area C. This portion of the occupied West Bank makes up more than 60% of its area and has long been essential for Israel’s attempts to control land and demographics due to its natural resources, vital agricultural lands, and relatively small Palestinian population.
«Over the past three and a half years, Israeli authorities have intensified an ethnic cleansing campaign in the West Bank that, under the auspices of the state, has subjected Palestinian communities to uprooting, dispossession, and forced transfer. This campaign is not the work of uncontrolled actors or extremists but a deliberate state-directed annexation violating international law before the world’s eyes,» stated Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
«Our report reveals that these abuses are not caused by a few ‘bad apples’. Settler violence is an essential element of a state-approved ethnic cleansing campaign fundamental to maintaining Israel’s apartheid system.»
Amnesty International’s investigation shows that the Palestinian population is being erased from its ancestral lands, separated from its livelihoods, and terrorized into leaving their homes amid an unprecedented rise in settler attacks, openly supported and actively facilitated by an Israeli government that boasts its intention to formally annex substantial areas of Palestinian land.
Communities in the Jordan Valley and southern Hebron hills facing displacement continue to resist, determined to remain on the land they have inhabited for generations. Amnesty International calls on the international community to act urgently to protect them.
However, despite the undeniable legal obligation of states to take action to end the illegal occupation and Israel’s apartheid system, the international community has repeatedly hesitated to act.
«The international community has shown complicity or excessive passivity in the face of the serious and repeated violations of international law committed by Israel and its noncompliance with resolutions from the General Assembly and the UN Security Council. It must clearly indicate that the time for tacit acquiescence to the ethnic cleansing and annexation conducted by Israel has come to an end,» stated Agnès Callamard.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 117 predominantly Bedouin and herding Palestinian communities have suffered total or partial displacement between January 2023 and April 2026. By the end of April 2026, at least 5,910 people had been victims of forced displacement, according to UN data.
These figures have emerged amid an unprecedented rise in state-backed settler violence. By the end of April 2026, Israeli settlers had established 363 outposts in the occupied West Bank, according to NGO Peace Now. Of these, no less than 212 were created from 2023 onwards and have the active support of Israeli authorities, who have taken virtually no steps to dismantle them despite their illegality under both Israeli law and international law. Many are engaged in herding and facilitate settlers in seizing large tracts of Palestinian land by grazing their flocks on them. These activities add to the land appropriations carried out by the Israeli government. Almost 58% of the land in Area C remains unregistered, and by February 2026, Israeli authorities had already confiscated nearly half of it, declaring it state-owned.
«For global leadership that has described annexation and settler violence as isolated acts of settlers or ‘extremist’ ministers and imposed limited sanctions on a few individuals or organizations, the Amnesty report should be a wake-up call: these limited measures are utterly insufficient to address the state campaign of ethnic cleansing and systematic violations of international law that have rapidly escalated before the eyes of the international community,» asserted Agnès Callamard.
«World leaders who repeatedly state they oppose annexation but do nothing to stop it must recognize that their inaction is indirectly fostering the commission of crimes against humanity and has global consequences that further undermine the international order based on norms.»
«States, particularly those with influence over Israel, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, as well as Italy and other European Union states and Arab states, must immediately prohibit all trade, investments, and any other forms of cooperation or financial aid that contribute to maintaining the illegal occupation, apartheid system, and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population perpetrated by Israel.»
“Furthermore, all states should impose targeted sanctions, including entry bans and asset freezes, on Israeli authorities directly involved in these acts, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich; National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir; Minister of Settlement and National Missions Orit Strock; and Defense Minister Israel Katz.»
Amnesty International conducted investigations on 27 Bedouin and herding communities that suffered forced displacement in Area C between 2023 and 2025 or were at risk of displacement.
The research team interviewed 45 Palestinians from 12 communities that had suffered or were at risk of displacement, as well as 19 legal professionals, activists who had witnessed settler violence incidents, journalists, and representatives from Israeli and Palestinian NGOs. The organization also verified more than 420 videos and images and analyzed official government statements, agreements, legislation, governance changes, court records, maps, satellite imagery, UN and civil society reports, and other publicly accessible materials.
The organization presented its findings to Israeli authorities on May 13. The Ministry of Defense responded on May 23, claiming its forces respond to incidents of settler violence and detain suspects when necessary, investigating cases where its units may not have intervened to stop violence. The data documented by Amnesty International reveals a different situation.
Indications of Israel’s Intent to Implement Ethnic Cleansing and Annexation Measures in Area C
Since the occupation of 1967, successive Israeli governments have applied, with varying degrees of intensity and transparency, policies of Judaization aimed at maximizing Jewish control over land in the West Bank while minimizing the Palestinian presence.
The 37th Israeli government, formed in late 2022 and led by Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party in coalition with Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party and Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism, has openly and deliberately advocated for the formal annexation of Area C and the forced transfer of its Palestinian population.
The coalition agreements of the government incorporated settler priorities into state policy and legitimize the vision of «Greater Israel,» an ideology promoted by the settler movement that considers the entire Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) an integral part of Israel. This is done in blatant defiance of several UN resolutions and the 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which declared the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory illegal.
Israel’s intention to expel the Palestinian population from Area C and annex the land is demonstrated by explicit calls from Israeli officials for the expansion of settlements, enhancing Israeli sovereignty over occupied territory, measures implemented to minimize the Palestinian presence in Area C, and public support given to settlers by key government ministers, some of whom are also settlers. Evidence of this includes legislation aimed at annexation and measures taken to transfer authority from military to civilian control in Cisjordania, violating international humanitarian law.
The state’s intent is also reflected in the increase of state property declarations over lands, streamlined settlement approval procedures, accelerated settlement expansion, retroactive legalization of outposts, and increased financial and political support for settler infrastructure, along with the demolition of Palestinian structures and systematic restriction of freedom of movement and access to land and water for the Palestinian population.
In the first three years of the government’s term, the annual budget of the Ministry of Settlements and National Missions increased by 122%, reaching 764 million shekels (approximately 254.5 million USD) in 2026.
According to Peace Now, between 2023 and 2025 the government projected the construction of 50,785 homes in settlements. In 2025 alone, the Higher Planning Council approved 27,941 homes, the highest annual figure ever recorded.
As of April 30, 2026, the total number of new settlements declared by the government reached 102, by far the largest number of new settlements authorized by any Israeli government in history.
Meanwhile, between January 2023 and April 2026, Israeli authorities demolished 3,407 Palestinian homes and structures in Area C, displacing 2,026 people, according to OCHA.
In the meantime, settlers, often with direct state backing or direct army participation, have subjected Bedouin and herding Palestinian communities to a litany of coercive and repressive measures that have forced many to abandon lands where they had lived and grazed for generations. The state-backed violence endured by these communities, coupled with increasing demolitions and the ongoing denial of basic services imposed by Israeli authorities, has rendered their areas practically uninhabitable.
Taken together, these interconnected coercive measures demonstrate the application of a deliberate and coordinated state strategy aimed at expanding Israeli control over Area C while provoking the displacement of Palestinian communities.
A clear example of this is the case of Jirbet Zanuta, a small locality in Area C of the West Bank, home to around 250 Palestinian Bedouins who have lived there for generations. In 2021, a group of settlers established an illegal outpost known as Meitarim Farm a kilometer away and launched a constant campaign of harassment, threats, and violent attacks that, by blocking access to agricultural and grazing lands, ultimately forced the Palestinian population to abandon their homes and livelihoods. After a series of violent incursions by settlers, which intensified following October 7, 2023, the entire community was displaced. Surrounded by settlements and outposts, Zanuta had long been subjected to demolition orders and restrictive urban policies that made it nearly impossible to build anything legally.
Despite two rulings by the Israeli Supreme Court, in July 2024 and February 2025, ordering authorities to facilitate the return of the population and protect them from settler violence, displaced individuals have been unable to return due to ongoing attacks and the destruction of key infrastructure. Adel al Till, a former inhabitant of Zanuta, explained: «The settlers were armed and kept attacking us […] We were scared, in real terror.»
Satellite images, interviews, and videos examined reveal that Zanuta no longer exists; it is practically destroyed and completely depopulated.
Exponential Increase in State-Backed Settler Violence
The prolonged campaign of settler violence in the West Bank has significantly escalated under the current Israeli government, reaching unprecedented extremes of homicide, injury, displacement, property destruction, and land appropriation. Israeli settlers have adopted increasingly aggressive tactics, causing the forced displacement of Palestinian communities through means such as attacks on homes and property; persistent harassment, threats, and physical assaults; and systematic deprivation of livelihoods through access restrictions to grazing lands and water sources, theft or slaughter of livestock, and destruction of farmland and crops. According to OCHA, between 2020 and 2024, nearly seven times as many settler attacks causing casualties were reported against Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities.
Verified videos and images by Amnesty International depict break-ins, arson, and widespread vandalism against homes, schools, vehicles, and agricultural assets, alongside the destruction of water sources, solar panels, and food reserves. Interviewees also reported widespread physical violence, including beatings with sticks and rifle butts, stone throwing, stabbings, and other assaults.
Despite Israel’s obligation as an occupying power to protect the lives and livelihoods of the occupied population and to prevent and investigate settler violence, Israeli authorities have actively facilitated such attacks, not only by arming settlers and allowing the army and police to support or participate in attacks against the Palestinian population but also by ensuring perpetrators face almost total impunity.
Following attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2023, Israeli authorities eased firearms licensing criteria for individuals and distributed firearms and uniforms to thousands of settlers, making it difficult for Palestinian communities to distinguish them from soldiers. By January 2026, licenses had been granted to over 240,000 Israeli citizens, a figure 15 times higher than the annual average of 8,000 licenses prior to the policy change. These measures led to a marked increase in attacks by armed settlers.
Amnesty’s report documents how Israeli settler violence has been employed as a deliberate instrument of forced displacement in three emblematic cases in Area C: Zanuta in the southern Hebron hills, and Ein Samia in the central Jordan Valley, both completely displaced in 2023, as well as Ein al Hilweh, Majoul, and Al Farisiya, a cluster of small communities in the northern Jordan Valley that are at real risk of displacement.
In the northern Jordan Valley, at least 38 Palestinian communities—around 7,000 people—are exposed to displacement. Almost 90% of land in the area has been declared state property, military firing zones, nature reserves, or archaeological sites, designations that Israel uses to restrict Palestinian communities’ access to grazing lands and water sources, causing their displacement.
Najiyyah Bisharat, a member of the Majoul herding community, stated: «We suffer constant harassment from settlers, but we will not give up. It is a matter of love for our land and our work. The land is our identity, and if we are expelled from it, we will die. Just like a fish out of water.»
Widespread Impunity
By failing to prevent and actively facilitating settler violence, systematically allowing perpetrators to avoid accountability, Israeli authorities have deliberately created an environment of widespread impunity that further fuels settler violence. In several cases documented by Amnesty, it has been the Palestinian individuals themselves who reported settler violence that Israeli authorities interrogated, fined, and arbitrarily detained, despite international law’s obligation to protect them.
Settlers and their organizations are further emboldened by decades of impunity. While some states have imposed sanctions on individual settlers or specific groups, there have been very few or no consequences for them in Israel.
For instance, Yinon Levi, a settler involved in a series of documented violent attacks against Palestinian communities and sanctioned by the United Kingdom and the European Union, was recorded shooting the unarmed Palestinian human rights defender Awda al Hathaleen in Umm al Jair on July 28, 2025.
Israeli authorities detained him as a suspect of involuntary manslaughter but released him the next day, placing him under house arrest for only three days. Afterward, he was free to continue harassing the Palestinian population and establish a new outpost on lands in Umm al Jair. Nearly two years after the homicide, he has not yet been charged.
«Without accountability, Palestinian communities across the West Bank will disappear before our eyes. The world has ignored for too long the enormous and deep suffering of the Palestinian population being uprooted and erased from the lands they have inhabited for generations. States must do everything in their power to end the campaign of ethnic cleansing and annexation undertaken by Israel in Area C of the West Bank. They must pressure Israeli authorities to immediately dismantle all settlements and outposts and allow displaced Palestinian communities to return to their homes,» stated Agnès Callamard.
«All states should support and cooperate in the International Criminal Court’s investigation into the situation in the State of Palestine, as well as open their own inquiries into international law crimes committed in the OPT. The message sent to Israel must be unequivocal: its persistent impunity has ended, and nothing will remain the same until it puts an end to its apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and illegal occupation.»
La entrada International Amnesty Calls for Action to Halt Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine and West Bank Annexation se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.
🔥 Ver noticia completa en ElCiudadano.cl 🔥
