West Bank Settlers Escalate Ethnic Cleansing Campaign as World Focuses on Gaza
While international attention remains overwhelmingly fixed on the catastrophic destruction unfolding in Gaza, Israeli settlers in the illegally occupied West Bank have dramatically intensified their long-running campaign of ethnic cleansing against Palestinian communities. This parallel assault, conducted with state complicity and under the cover of the Gaza war, represents a systematic effort to erase Palestinian presence and claim land.
A Deadly Campaign of Displacement and Destruction
Since October 2023, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, with approximately one-fifth of these victims being children. Beyond the direct violence, a relentless campaign of harassment, infrastructure destruction, and economic suffocation has driven countless families from their homes. Entire Palestinian communities have been systematically erased across vast areas of the West Bank, creating facts on the ground that make a future Palestinian state increasingly untenable.
The Israeli state's involvement extends beyond mere complicity. Military raids have increased significantly, and reports indicate that settler-only units within the Israeli army are operating as vigilante militias. Furthermore, the military has reportedly ordered soldiers to prevent Palestinians from ploughing their own agricultural land at the direct request of settlers, a move that threatens Palestinian livelihoods and paves the way for eventual land seizure.
'Tectonic' Legal Measures and Political Momentum
With Israel heading toward elections in the coming months, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners are accelerating their agenda. The security cabinet recently adopted what scholars describe as "tectonic" new administrative measures that fundamentally alter the legal landscape. These measures streamline and facilitate land theft by stripping away the already limited constraints on property purchases and effectively destroying the nominal authority of Palestinians in Areas A and B of the West Bank.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz explicitly stated the objective, declaring in a joint statement with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, "We will continue to kill the idea of a Palestinian state." This blunt admission reveals the underlying purpose behind bureaucratic measures ostensibly concerning archaeological site protection, water theft prevention, and land purchase procedures.
International Inaction and Hollow Condemnations
The international response has been characterized by strong rhetoric but minimal concrete action. While the White House has reiterated opposition to annexation, recent talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Netanyahu focused primarily on Iran, with Palestinian issues largely sidelined. Arab and Islamic states central to proposed peace plans have warned that Israel's new measures will "inflame violence, deepen the conflict and endanger regional stability and security."
Despite these warnings, political pressure has diminished since the declaration of a ceasefire in Gaza—though Israeli military operations against Palestinians continue there as well. The United Kingdom has "strongly condemned" the West Bank measures, while the European Union stated that sanctions remain "on the table" but shows no urgency in implementing them. Within Israel itself, only a small minority voices dissent against these policies.
A Diminishing Path to Peace
The simultaneous assaults in Gaza and the West Bank are interconnected crises that cannot be addressed separately. While international outrage over Gaza prompted several governments, including the UK, to symbolically recognize a Palestinian state in 2023, these gestures appear increasingly hollow without accompanying action. Meanwhile, Israel continues to demolish critical infrastructure, including the East Jerusalem headquarters of UNRWA, and expel humanitarian organizations like Médecins Sans Frontières from occupied territories.
In 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel should end its illegal occupation as quickly as possible. Yet as hunger and desperation persist in Gaza, and ethnic cleansing accelerates in the West Bank, the window for meaningful international intervention is closing rapidly. The two-state solution, to which many governments still pay lip service, is being systematically dismantled on the ground, with real consequences for millions of Palestinians and regional stability.
