Stop the Ethnic Cleansing and Expulsion of West Bank Palestinian Communities
- ACRI
- Apr 15
- 4 min read
Since the current government began its term, and with even greater intensity since the October 7 massacre and the outbreak of the war, there has been a steep escalation in the West Bank in the establishment of outposts, the private settler takeover of lands, violence against Palestinian residents, and in the deliberate and planned creation of impossible living conditions for Palestinian residents to the point of forced displacement of families and communities from their homes. Between January 2023 and May 2025, the UN documented the forced displacement of 2,692 Palestinians, including over 1,000 children, as a result of settler violence and restrictions on access to land. This is the largest expulsion of Palestinians in the West Bank since the Six Day War.
Outposts controlling large swaths of land and dispossessing protected residents of their rights are continually erected and are subsequently granted legal normalization and regulation by state authorities. In 2023–2024 alone, the establishment of approximately 85 new illegal outposts deep inside the West Bank was documented (in comparison, an estimated 30 outposts were established throughout the West Bank in the previous decade).
These outposts serve as bases from which violent settlers conduct raids on the homes and lands of Palestinian residents, with the open and declared intention of “cleansing the area” of Palestinians. These are deliberate efforts whose clear objective is to push Palestinians out of these areas until they are expelled. The settlers leading the expulsion efforts do not hide their motives. They also face little to no consequences—in fact, just the opposite: they are not removed from the occupied territory and instead are provided with economic and operational support.
Generally speaking, the settlers’ process works as follows:
First, the illegal construction of outposts and extensions containing residential buildings.
Then fences and barriers are built near the residential complexes and grazing areas of Palestinian communities.
Areas begin to be closed off for military purposes, with the declaration that lands are state lands, and the army imposes movement restrictions.
These measures serve to confine Palestinian communities into an increasingly shrinking area and to prevent them from accessing water and other vital resources, as well as grazing and agricultural lands—including land that is privately owned by Palestinians. Additionally, Palestinian residents suffer from repeated thefts of sheep, cattle, and equipment; sabotage of water tanks; arson and property damage; harassment; and physical violence that can result in injuries and sometimes fatalities. In many cases, an outpost is established extremely close to Palestinian residents’ homes; in other cases, explicit or implicit orders to leave are given by settlers or members of the security forces, along with threats that residents will be harmed if they do not leave, and so communities have no choice but to abandon their homes.
ACRI has approached military authorities dozens of times in cases of settler violence that led to the displacement of Palestinian communities. The responses testify to the passive policy adopted by the military and point to the fact that the Military Commander is aware of the issue. There is no substantive justification for the inaction regarding the expulsion of the communities, and ignoring the claims about the systematic nature of the harassment, violence, and displacement.
ACRI lawyer Reut Shaer, Director of the Human Rights in the Occupied Territories Department, sent a strongly-worded appeal to the heads of Israel's security and law enforcement services: the Attorney General, Minister of Defense, Chief of Staff, State Attorney, Police Commissioner and Legal Advisor to the Police, Central Command Commander, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Head of the Civil Administration, and Legal Advisor for the West Bank. The appeal warns that the accumulating evidence of systematic forced displacement of dozens of communities establishes solid grounds for suspicion of serious violations of international law amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The appeal states that:
“The Military Commander as temporary sovereign in the occupied territory, the Civil Administration and bodies supported by them, as well as various government ministries, not only do not curb this activity, but reinforce it and actively support it, including through retroactive affirmation of the acts by way of legalizing illegal outposts in those same areas and regions whose residents fled from violence. This support entails direct responsibility of the state for crimes committed by its citizens.”
The appeal makes a number of demands on the heads of the security and law enforcement system, including that they:
Immediately and proactively exercise their authority to protect threatened communities at risk of forced displacement and remove those targeting them;
Remove Israelis from the West Bank who incite nationalist violence and terror or participate in violent actions;
Evacuate violent outposts that threaten or target Palestinian communities with the aim of expelling them;
Assist communities that were expelled and wish to return to their homes;
Formulate a comprehensive, active, and effective policy to stop displacement and expulsion throughout the West Bank, through coordinated use of the powers held by the army, police, Civil Administration, and various government ministries, while continuously monitoring implementation and engaging in dialogue with the relevant communities.
On April 16, 2026, we sent an additional appeal on behalf of a number of organizations after the previous appeal went unanswered. The letter included updated data, a review of the displacement of communities since our July 2025 appeal, and data on the authorization of dozens of violent outposts. We again pointed to violations of human rights and international law, and to the responsibility of the senior governmental echelon in Israel for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Shaer wrote:
“In light of the scope and systematic nature of the actions described in our previous and current appeals, and in light of your complete disregard for these appeals, there is no room left for doubt that this constitutes a systematic move of ethnic cleansing, knowingly shared by all levels of government. It is difficult to overstate the gravity of these matters. Yet another red line has therefore been crossed in the basic norms binding every human being and every human society. Those who design such policy and those who implement it bear personal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Appeal by ACRI and Bimkom - Planners for Planning Rights, July 10, 2025 (Heb)
Appeal by human rights groups, April 16, 2026 (Heb)
We have not forgotten: 🛑 Stop the killing and starvation in Gaza 🛑 Stop the abandonment of the hostages 🛑 End the war. Now.
