West Bank undergoes biggest ethnic cleansing in modern times, report says
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- 'Israeli' report says West Bank is facing its largest wave of forced displacement and settlement expansion in modern history.
- Dozens of Palestinian families have been uprooted, while settler infrastructure and “separation roads” expand rapidly.
A detailed report cited by 'Israeli' media outlets, including Haaretz, has highlighted a sharp acceleration in the forced displacement of Palestinians and the expansion of 'Israeli' settlements across the West Bank. The findings are based on a field tour organized by the 'Israeli' rights group Peace Now for a group of journalists, aiming to show conditions outside daily media coverage.
The report describes harrowing scenes in areas like Ras Ein Al-Auja, north of Jericho, where Palestinian families were dismantling homes and packing their few possessions under pressure from daily settler attacks. Journalists described residents struggling to carry heavy belongings and tear down walls that appeared destined for new construction elsewhere.
Read more: UNRWA reports 33,000 Palestinians displaced across the West Bank
Many families expressed uncertainty about where they would go, with some hoping to reach Area A in the West Bank. Observers say the displacement is enforced not only by military presence but through “economic strangulation” and intimidation by both minors and organized settler groups with political backing.
Settler violence and organized displacement
Amir Pansky, an 'Israeli' activist, described conditions in Area C as “the worst ethnic cleansing in history” being recorded in real time. He highlighted the systematic nature of settler violence, including attacks on Palestinian shepherds deprived of basic resources like water and grazing land. Pansky noted that hundreds of settler minors operate like a private army, and incidents of violence often go uninvestigated.
Reports indicate that in January, more than 20 Palestinian families from Ras Ein Al-Auja were forced to leave. In total, 26 families, representing roughly 700 residents, have been displaced, with others preparing to leave in the following days.
Rapid settlement expansion
Alongside displacement, Peace Now observers documented accelerated 'Israeli' settlement activity, which they termed “enhanced annexation”. Over the past three years, nearly 100 new 'Israeli' outposts have been established, often controlled by only one or two families, aimed at consolidating land rather than increasing population.
These outposts are supported by extensive budgets for segregated roads, dubbed “apartheid roads, that link settlements while isolating Palestinian communities behind gates and long bypass routes.
Currently, the West Bank hosts 147 official 'Israeli' settlements and 191 unauthorized outposts, home to approximately 478,000 settlers controlling territory with some 2.8 million Palestinians.
Under the current 'Israeli' government, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has approved plans for 40,000 new housing units, including 17 new settlements and the expansion of 36 outposts, with an estimated budget exceeding $375 million. Critics say these developments make a two-state solution increasingly unlikely.
The report paints a stark picture of the West Bank today: accelerated displacement, rising settler violence, and a sweeping campaign of territorial consolidation that many describe as a de facto annexation of Palestinian land.
