Israel Accused of Carrying Out Campaign of Accelerated Ethnic Cleansing in the Israeli-Occupied Palestinian West Bank

While the world’s eyes are on the bloody destruction and carnage in Gaza, the Israeli Government and Israeli settlers – backed and supported by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) – are carrying out a campaign of accelerated ethnic cleansing in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank.

Over 600 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since Hamas’ deadly attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, at least 10 by Israeli settlers. Fifteen Israeli soldiers and settlers have been killed by Palestinians during the same period.

In addition to the deteriorating situation in the West Bank, Palestinians fear that an even worse wave of ethnic cleansing and violence lies ahead as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah in the north escalate and the region prepares for Iran’s promised retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut several weeks ago.

“It’s open season on Palestinians. The Israeli settlers and soldiers know they are free to open fire for little if any reason and that there will be no consequences,” journalist Abdel-Rahman Khabeisa, from the village of Beita near Nablus in the northern West Bank, told Byline Times.

“We believe the Israeli settlers, backed by the Israeli army, will take advantage of a broader regional war to attack Palestinian villages in large numbers and escalate their ethnic cleansing campaign,” said Khabeisa, from the village of Beita near Nablus in the northern West Bank.

Beita villagers have been protesting for years against the illegal Israeli settlement of Evyatar established on a hilltop overlooking the village on land expropriated from the villagers. The heavy price they have paid has included several young men shot dead and many more wounded and arrested.

The Khabeisa family have lost large sections of their olive groves and are unable to access their land. Olive groves comprise a significant part of Beita’s agricultural economy on which villagers are dependent.

“Several weeks ago the settlers destroyed hundreds of Beita village’s olive trees and not for the first time. They also set fire to a construction factory, leading to thousands of dollars of damage, while Israeli soldiers looked on,” Khabeisa, who is part of the Beita Village Council, said.  

“Another Palestinian farmer from the nearby village of Yatma has been attacked several times by the settlers and they have warned him that they will kill him if he doesn’t leave,” he added.

Paramedics have also been killed and assaulted by Israeli soldiers and settlers as ambulances trying to evacuate Palestinians wounded in confrontations were either blocked from reaching the injured or shot at. 

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) also reported that between 7 October 2023 and 5 August 2024, Israeli settlers had carried out 1,143 attacks on Palestinians and their property

Thousands of olive trees have been destroyed, homes, cars and other property set on fire. Livestock has either been stolen or killed, in some cases their throats were slit by settlers, while many Palestinians have been assaulted with clubs and shot and wounded.

Since 7 October 2023, some 255 Palestinian households comprising 1,500 people, mostly herding families, including 720 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions, according to the Ocha.

The daily attacks appear to be part of a deliberate Israeli campaign to expropriate Palestinian land and drive Palestinians off their properties to make way for new Israeli settlements and to enlarge others, according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch – All of which is illegal under international law.

Both Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Israeli Minister of Security Itamar Ben Gvir are settlers living in illegal settlements in the West Bank and have openly supported and backed settler violence.

The West Bank is divided into Area A, which falls under Palestinian control, Area B where Palestinians control the administration, and Israel the security, and Area C which comprises 60% of the West Bank and is under Israeli control.

Israel has been demolishing Palestinian homes and infrastructure, and restricting Palestinian access in Area C for decades with extremists in Israel’s most ring-wing government, since the Jewish state’s establishment in 1948, making no secret of their desire to rid the area of its indigenous inhabitants.

The picturesque, agricultural village of Kafr Qaddum, in the northern West Bank, is nestled between hills covered in olive orchards, ancient stone houses and winding roads with a sweeping panoramic view. The villagers rely mostly on their land for their livelihoods. 

“Despite our weekly protests, we’ve lost nearly 3,000 acres of our land to the Kedumim settlement built on our land which falls in Area C,” activist Saqer Obeed told Byline Times. He continued: “We were only previously allowed to access our olives three days a year during olive season even though the land needs tending throughout the year.”

“Most of the villagers have lost their income and are now dependent on support from family and the community. The Israelis are also now restricting access in some parts of Area B, when previously it was only Area C,” Obeed added. 

In an unprecedented step, Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich, recently allowed the expropriation of land in Area B as he called for annexation of the West Bank to circumvent the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Smotrich sparked international outrage on 7 August after saying: “No one in the world will allow us to starve two million people, even though it might be justified and moral in order to free the hostages.” The comments were condemned by the UK, EU, and France.

The drive to evict Palestinians and expropriate their land has also focused on Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.

The number of Palestinians displaced in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, by demolitions and confiscations, has more than doubled since 7 October 2023, compared with the preceding 10 months (3,070 compared to 1,252), according to Ocha. 

The Norwegian Refugee Council warned that more than 1,500 Palestinians were further at risk of imminent displacement in the Al Bustan area of Silwan, in East Jerusalem as Israel continues its Judaisation of the eastern sector of the city by restricting Palestinian building permits, destroying Palestinian homes and evicting their residents while actively encouraging illegal Israeli settlement through financial incentives.

In addition to the land theft, Ocha said that 181,000 Palestinians were also impacted by the destruction of roads, water and sanitation facilities, and other public infrastructure, mainly during Israeli forces’ operations in Tulkarm and Jenin in the northern West Bank.

Beita residents are not taking these developments lying down and are actively making plans should a regional war break out.

“As a precaution we have taken steps to ensure water supplies by being able to access underground wells in the event of water and electricity being cut off by the settlers or the Israeli authorities,” explained Khabeisa.

“We are also stockpiling medicine and have plans to establish a makeshift field hospital with medical personnel on call.”

He added that self-defence units are also being established to protect citizens from “being shot and attacked by the Israelis but I can’t share too much of this information for security reasons”.

“While we all hope carrying out these plans will not be necessary and that regional war won’t break out, we fear the worst,” Khabeisa said.