HRW Warns of Escalating Settler Attacks and Forced Displacement in West Bank

By Staff, Agencies

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said escalating settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have completely or partially displaced 107 communities since January 2023, warning that dozens more are at risk of being erased amid expanding illegal settlements.

In a report released Thursday, HRW said settler violence intensified sharply in March and April 2026, with attacks involving killings, including of children, physical and psychological abuse, sexual violence, arbitrary detention, arson, property destruction, and theft.

The organization said the attacks are taking place with financial, material, and legal backing from the "Israeli" state, while armed settlers sometimes operate alongside "Israeli" army units or in the presence of soldiers who fail to intervene.

"The 'Israeli' government and the settlers share the same goal of maximum land and minimum Palestinians, with the authorities not only failing to stop settler violence, but actively enabling it," Sarah Sanbar, a researcher at HRW, said.

"Settlers shoot, attack, and expel Palestinians from their land, and the state provides the weapons, the legal cover, and the budget to do it."

HRW said it investigated attacks in seven Palestinian communities in April and May: Al-Mughayyir, Mikhmas, and Taybeh in Ramallah governorate; Jalud and Qaryut in Nablus governorate; and Khirbet Humsa and Muarrajat East in the Jordan Valley.

The organization said it interviewed 20 witnesses and reviewed videos filmed by witnesses and CCTV footage documenting multiple incidents. It added that the "Israeli" military had not responded to questions concerning the attacks.

According to HRW, attacks increasingly target Palestinian livelihoods and food security by restricting access to grazing land and water, stealing or killing livestock, and destroying or burning agricultural fields and crops.

The organization said such attacks have forced Palestinians to sell livestock at a loss or absorb the additional cost of feeding animals at home.

HRW said attacks are also increasingly occurring in Area B of the West Bank, which is under joint "Israeli"-Palestinian Authority security control under the 1995 Oslo II Accords.

The organization said the attacks, combined with the absence of adequate state protection, have created a coercive environment in which many Palestinians feel they have no choice but to leave their homes.