Amnesty International Values Israel's State-Led Annexation and Ethnic Cleansing in the West Bank
JAKARTA - Amnesty International on Wednesday assessed that Israel was accelerating a state-driven "ethnic cleansing" campaign and forced displacement of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, in a new 150-page report focusing on the Bedouin and herding communities in Area C of the territory.
"Over the past three and a half years, Israeli authorities have accelerated a state-sponsored ethnic cleansing campaign in the West Bank, uprooting, confiscating and forcibly relocating Palestinian communities," Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said in a statement, Anadolu (11/6).
"This is not the work of a rogue actor or what the international community has repeatedly labeled as extremist settlers, organizations, or one or two ministers. What we are witnessing is a deliberate and state-led annexation, which is in full violation of international law and is happening before the eyes of the entire world," the report said.
"The international community has been complicit or too passive in the face of Israel's repeated and grave violations of international law, as well as its disregard for UN General Assembly and Security Council resolutions. They must clearly signal that the era of tacit approval of Israel's ethnic cleansing and annexation has ended," he added.
At least 117 communities, mostly Bedouin and herding tribes, have faced full or partial evictions between January 2023 and April 2026, according to UN data cited by Amnesty.
The human rights group noted that Israeli policies increasingly allow for the expansion of settlements, land seizures, and settler violence, which together create conditions that force Palestinians to leave their homes. In April 2026, at least 5,910 people had been forced to flee, it said.
Amnesty International also pointed to a sharp increase in settlement outposts and demolitions, citing 363 settlement outposts established in the West Bank, many of which since 2023, and the demolition of 3,407 Palestinian homes and buildings between 2023 and 2026.
The report claims evidence of coordinated state policies aimed at "formal annexation" of Area C - the part of the territory that remains under full Israeli security and civilian control under the Oslo Accords, and which includes more than 60 percent of the West Bank - along with financial and political support for settlements and increased transfers of authority from the military to civilian control.
Israel did not immediately respond to the report's core allegations, although a Defense Ministry response quoted in the report said troops acted against settler violence and were investigating a failure to intervene.
Amnesty International said it had inspected 27 communities, interviewed dozens of Palestinians, and reviewed hundreds of images and videos.
The report also criticized the UK, with Amnesty UK urging the country to ban trade related to settlements and impose wider sanctions.
Kerry Moscogiuri, chief executive of Amnesty International UK, said the "current stance of the UK Government of condemning Israeli settlements while continuing to allow trade with them is not only inconsistent, but also encourages the Israeli authorities to step up their brutal ethnic cleansing campaign in the West Bank."