A Palestinian displays bullet canisters and tear gas canisters after an attack by Israeli settlers on the Palestinian village of Faqu'a, northwest of Jenin in the West Bank, on September 12, 2026
Afrasianet - Israel is implementing a "wiping out" of Palestinians in the West Bank, which aims to entrench Israeli presence and sovereignty through a range of policies and actions that undermine the ability of Palestinians to continue their "existence as a group in their homeland ," the Israeli rights group B'Tselem said.
"Erasure is not limited to killing or displacement, but also includes dismantling the conditions that allow Palestinians to live on their land, by preventing them from accessing their land and livelihoods, restricting their movement, weakening their social and political institutions, and reducing their ability to plan for their future," the organization said in a lengthy report.
"Since the end of 2022, a new phase in Israeli policy in the West Bank has begun, through a policy based on control, violence and plunder, and has begun to be implemented openly and clearly, and at a more violent and accelerated pace," the organization noted.
The organization's executive director, Yuli Novak, was quoted in a press release as saying that what Palestinians are experiencing in the West Bank is part of "a single political project that permeates all walks of life."
"[Palestinian] communities are being displaced, the economy is being pushed to the brink of collapse, and millions of people are living in constant fear of violence from the Israeli army or settlers."
B'Tselem said that this project is being implemented in the West Bank through five main mechanisms: "violence and terror, imposing restrictions on movement, harming livelihoods and the economy, undermining social and political life, and seizing land."
These policies do not work in isolation, but rather reinforce each other, making it more difficult for Palestinians to stay in their homes, according to the organization.
The organization said that what is happening in the West Bank is not a separate set of events or violations, but part of an ongoing process based on what is known as the "logic of erasure."
These policies are not born of recent years, but extend to previous decades, but have accelerated since the end of 2022, especially after October 7, 2023, with the expansion of settlements, the escalation of violence, and the tightening of restrictions on the movement and livelihoods of Palestinians.
The organization also said that Israel follows an apartheid regime in the West Bank, while committing "genocide in the Gaza Strip," considering that what is happening in the two areas reflects the same "logic of erasure," albeit with different tools and means, as described in the report.
"From October 7, 2023, to August 31, 2026, Israel killed 1,107 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 245 children," the report noted.
To date, Israel has displaced "75 Palestinian communities, while settlement outposts and farms have seized 1.07 million dunams, equivalent to 18% of the West Bank, and forcibly displaced about 33,000 Palestinians from refugee camps in the northern West Bank," the organization said.
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