Amnesty International's 149-page report accuses Israel of conducting a state-linked campaign of "ethnic cleansing" to remove Palestinians from the West Bank and facilitate annexation. Citing U.N. data, the report says more than 100 villages were partly or fully emptied and over 7,280 demolition-related displacements occurred between Jan 2023 and Apr 2026. Amnesty ties the displacement to settler violence, settlement expansion, and legislative and administrative measures, and says the international community has not done enough to stop it.
Amnesty Accuses Israel Of 'Ethnic Cleansing' In The West Bank — 149‑Page Report Details Widespread Displacement
FILE -A Bedouin carries a bicycle past houses that, according to local residents, were heavily damaged yesterday during an attack by Israeli settlers in Al-Dyouk Al-Tahta area, on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Jericho, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)(AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Amnesty International on Wednesday released a 149-page report accusing Israel of carrying out a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" aimed at removing Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and facilitating de facto annexation of the territory. The report argues that the displacement results from coordinated state policy combined with settler violence, not solely from isolated extremist actions.
Key Findings
The report cites United Nations data and independent investigations to document a pattern of displacement and legal and physical pressure on Palestinian communities:
- More than 100 West Bank villages were fully or partially emptied between January 2023 and April 2026, according to U.N. figures cited by Amnesty.
- The U.N. recorded over 7,280 instances of individual Palestinian displacement caused by demolitions of homes and structures by Israeli forces; some people were displaced multiple times.
- Amnesty examined 27 hamlets and villages displaced between 2023 and 2025, reviewed more than 420 videos, and interviewed dozens of residents, lawyers and witnesses.
- The report highlights intensified displacement of Bedouin herding communities in remote areas, which are particularly vulnerable to armed settler outposts and legal measures restricting land use.
"These abuses are not the result of a few 'bad apples.' Settler violence is a core component of a state-sanctioned campaign of ethnic cleansing," said Agnès Callamard, Secretary-General of Amnesty.
Context And Evidence
Amnesty documents what it describes as a mix of tactics driving displacement: settler violence and the creation of new outposts, legal and administrative measures that extend Israeli civil law and jurisdiction, and the takeover of unregistered land. The monitoring group Peace Now told researchers that 212 of at least 363 outposts in the West Bank were created since 2023; many are built without authorization and are at times later legalized.
FILE - An aerial view shows the Bedouin hamlet of Khan al-Ahmar in the West Bank, Jan. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)(AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
The report also points to legislative activity in the Knesset that Amnesty says would extend Israeli law and courts over settlement blocs and Palestinians, and notes a recent parliamentary measure making the death penalty the default sentence for West Bank Palestinians convicted of nationalistic killings. Israel has previously rejected similar accusations as biased and did not immediately respond to this report.
International Reaction And Legal Issues
Amnesty says the international community has largely failed to halt the displacement. The international community widely regards Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal under international law; Israel describes the West Bank as disputed territory and argues final status should be resolved by negotiations. More than 700,000 Israelis live in settlements across the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured in 1967 that Palestinians seek for a future state alongside Gaza.
The organization calls for urgent international action to prevent further displacement and to ensure accountability for alleged state policies that it says violate international humanitarian and human rights law.
Methodology: Amnesty researchers combined interviews, video analysis (420+ videos), legal and official-document review, and site investigations of 27 communities displaced between 2023 and 2025.
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