Amnesty International Accuses Israel of 'Ethnic Cleansing' of West Bank Bedouin Communities in New Report
The report says Israeli authorities carried out a state-led campaign that displaced or threatened hundreds of Palestinians in Area C between 2023 and 2025. It calls the measures violations of international law.
winnipegfreepress.comAmnesty International on Wednesday accused Israel of carrying out an ethnic cleansing campaign against Bedouin and herding communities in the occupied West Bank. The rights group said the measures are intended to accelerate annexation of the Palestinian territory. Its new report found that rural Palestinian communities have faced the brunt of settler violence and forced displacement.
The report stated that 27 Bedouin and herding communities comprising hundreds of Palestinians were forcibly displaced between 2023 and 2025 or remain at risk of displacement in Area C. Area C covers 60 percent of the West Bank and remains under full Israeli control under the 1990s Oslo agreements.
Amnesty International described the campaign as state-led and state-sponsored rather than driven by individual settlers.
The report said Israeli authorities have accelerated settlement expansion, increased financial and logistical support to settlements, and armed settlers. It added that these steps enable a campaign of settler violence. Amnesty International pointed to explicit calls by Israeli officials for settlement expansion and measures aimed at minimizing Palestinian presence in Area C.
The report said the actions violate international humanitarian law, including the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer and the crime against humanity of forcible transfer of population. It noted that Bedouin and herder communities are particularly vulnerable because they are often isolated and lack security services.
Amnesty International's secretary general said targeted sanctions against individuals are symbolically important but have no impact on settlement expansion or settler violence.
She called on the EU to suspend its association agreement with Israel. Since late 2022, Israeli authorities have approved the creation of 102 settlements in the West Bank, according to settlement watchdog Peace Now. More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, excluding east Jerusalem, among some three million Palestinians.
