GENEVA - UN experts* today condemned Israel's accelerating campaign of ethnic cleansing and annexation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, marked by the forced displacement of Palestinians and escalating violence by Israeli security forces and settlers terrorising Palestinian communities.
"Against the backdrop of the US-Israel aggression of Iran and Lebanon, Israel is escalating ethnic cleansing and full annexation of the West Bank," the experts said.
"Since 28 February, most road gates of the West Bank have been closed by occupation forces, obstructing access to workplaces, schools, health services and aid, isolating communities even from ambulances and fire brigades."
"Entrapped and out of reach, entire communities live in fear of settler terrorism rampaging across the West Bank day and night," they warned. "Thousands of Palestinian families have been forced to flee their homes because of escalating settler attacks, and the destruction of essential infrastructure, especially in the Jordan valley, some of them displaced months earlier from other communities."
The experts are also alarmed by reports of sexual abuse of Palestinian men, women and children by settlers.
They said the settlers were being galvanised by hate speech from high level government officials and rampant impunity for brazen attacks that kill and injure Palestinians, including children and older persons.
Settlers have targeted Palestinian homes, vehicles and livestock, vandalised harvests, olive trees and critical water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and infrastructure. Sheep have been killed or stolen from pasturelands.
The experts said the mobs have beaten and threatened everyone, including Israeli volunteers, trying to protect Palestinian villages and families.
Between 3 and 16 February, at least 86 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians took place across 60 communities. On 3 March, armed settler groups and Israeli military forces raided the village of Qaryut, in Nablus District, killed two Palestinians and injured others. Ambulances were unable to reach and evacuate the injured for over an hour because of Israel's closures.
"This is an example of coordinated implementation of Israel's annexation and ethnic cleansing policy by occupation forces and settlers: these two are birds of a feather," the experts said.
Recent reports revealing that arms and vehicles have been provided to these groups corroborate evidence that Israeli authorities rely on illegal settlers to "do the groundwork" of the ethnic cleansing.
The experts denounced statements by Israeli Minister of national security Ben Gvir, who claimed that "Jews are above the law in the West Bank" while granting firearm licenses to settlers in occupied East Jerusalem.
"Only a few weeks ago, we denounced the Israeli Government's plan to further dispossess and displace Palestinian communities, expand and promote the creation of new illegal settlements, and register Palestinian land as Israel's property," the experts said.
"We called on States to bring the unlawful occupation to an end, in compliance with the International Court of Justice 2024 Advisory Opinion and General Assembly Resolution ES 10/24. Tragically, States have failed to stop Israel's crimes, emboldening its impunity and giving it carte blanche to continue its atrocities against Palestinians," they said.
