Mustafa Bani Odeh, eight, survived an attack by Israeli soldiers that killed his parents and two siblings in the occupied West Bank. AFP
The Israeli state plays a “central role” in worsening settler violence in the occupied West Bank, which forced 36,000 Palestinians off their land in 12 months, the UN’s human rights office said in a report on Tuesday.
“Settler violence continued in a co-ordinated, strategic and largely unchallenged manner, with Israeli authorities playing the central role in directing, participating in or enabling this conduct,” the report said.
“The displacement in the occupied West Bank, which coincides with the extensive displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, at the hands of the Israeli military, appears to indicate a concerted Israeli policy of mass forcible transfer throughout the occupied territory, aimed at permanent displacement, raising concerns of ethnic cleansing,” it added.
There has been a surge in settlement expansion and Israeli violence in the West Bank since the Gaza war began, following the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023. Israel’s current government, which was elected at the end of 2022, contains many high-profile settlers for whom taking Palestinian land is a policy priority.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called on Israel “to immediately and completely cease and reverse the establishment and expansion of settlements, for the evacuation all settlers, and an end to the occupation of the Palestinian territory”.
“Israel must also enable the return of displaced Palestinians and stop all practices of land confiscation, forced evictions and house demolitions,” he added.
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