Dozens of Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank are at risk of erasure due to escalating attacks by Israeli settlers, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The US-based rights group said in a report released on Thursday that increased settler attacks, along with the rapid expansion of Israeli settlements illegal under international law, are driving a wave of forced displacement of Palestinians.

The report accuses Israeli authorities of arming, funding, and granting impunity to settlers to carry out the attacks. Settler violence has been growing since the current government took office in December 2022, but attacks spiked in the first two months of the US and Israel's war on Iran, including killings of children, assaults, sexual violence, and arson.

“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,” said Sarah Sanbar, acting Israel and Palestine researcher at HRW.

HRW investigated settler attacks in seven Palestinian communities in April and May, finding that armed settlers sometimes acted alongside Israeli military units or with soldiers standing by without intervening.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) found that 107 communities, comprising 5,900 Palestinians, had been completely or partially displaced since January 2023. The Israeli military expelled another 32,000 Palestinians since January 2025, emptying camps in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams.

HRW says the attacks and lack of state protection have created a coercive environment, leaving many Palestinians with no choice but to leave. The report recommends targeted sanctions, suspension of weapons transfers to Israel, and a trade ban with illegal settlements, urging countries to consider suspending preferential trade agreements with Israel.

Source: www.aljazeera.com