Amnesty accuses Israel of “ethnic cleansing” of West Bank Bedouin communities

TLE Desk: Amnesty International has accused Israel of carrying out an “ethnic cleansing” campaign against Bedouin and herding communities in the occupied West Bank, alleging that state-backed policies and settler violence are driving forced displacement, reports AFP.

In a report released on Wednesday, the rights group said rural Palestinian communities in Area C of the West Bank were facing intensified pressure that amounts to a coordinated effort to expand Israeli control over the territory.

“Israeli authorities are accelerating annexation through a state-driven campaign of ethnic cleansing targeting Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities,” the report said.

Amnesty said its findings show that 27 Bedouin and herding communities, comprising hundreds of Palestinians, were forcibly displaced between 2023 and 2025 or remained at risk of displacement in Area C, which is under full Israeli administrative and security control under the Oslo Accords.

The report, titled “Erasing anything Palestinian: Israel’s ethnic cleansing of West Bank Bedouin and herding communities,” alleges that the Israeli government has increased support for settlement expansion while enabling violence by settlers.

It also accused authorities of facilitating land seizures and failing to prevent attacks on vulnerable rural communities.

According to Amnesty, the policies reflect a broader political agenda aligned with Israel’s settler movement and right-wing leadership.

Amnesty further argued that the situation is not the result of isolated incidents, but of systemic state involvement.

“The ethnic cleansing campaign is state-led and state-sponsored, not driven by rogue settlers or so-called extremist ministers,” the report concluded.

Israeli officials have previously defended settlement expansion as legal or necessary for security, though most of the international community considers settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a leading proponent of annexation, has also faced international criticism. France recently imposed a travel ban on him over his support for settlement policies.

Amnesty Secretary General Agnes Callamard launched the report in Berlin, urging stronger European action, including reconsideration of the EU’s association agreement with Israel.

She said targeted sanctions alone were insufficient to curb settlement expansion or settler violence, calling instead for broader political and economic measures.

“The EU in particular must leverage its influence by expediting the long-overdue suspension of its association agreement with Israel,” Callamard said.

The report noted that since the current Israeli government took office in late 2022, more than 100 new settlements have been approved in the West Bank, according to settlement monitoring groups.

The West Bank is home to more than half a million Israeli settlers alongside roughly three million Palestinians, amid longstanding disputes over territory, sovereignty and international law.