West Bank: 107 Communities Displaced as Settler Attacks Surge

Attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank have fully or partially displaced 107 Palestinian communities since January 2023, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch. The organization said the violence is increasingly driving forced displacement, with dozens of communities at risk of "erasure." The report, released Wednesday, documents a sharp rise in settler violence in March and April 2026. Killings, including of children, assaults, sexual violence, arson, and property destruction occurred during the United States and Israel's war with Iran. However, Human Rights Watch said the upward trend has been clear since the current Israeli government took office in December 2022. "Israeli authorities are arming, funding, and granting impunity to the violent settlers responsible for these escalating deadly abuses," the report states. **A Coercive Environment** Human Rights Watch investigated attacks in seven West Bank communities in April and May. Researchers spoke to 20 witnesses and reviewed videos of multiple incidents. They found that armed settlers, at times acting alongside Israeli army units, attacked Palestinian residents and property. In many cases, soldiers stood by without intervening. The attacks often target livelihoods. Residents reported restricted access to grazing land and water, stolen or killed livestock, and destroyed crops. Many families sold their animals at a loss or bore the cost of feeding them at home. The organization said this creates a "coercive environment" that leaves many Palestinians feeling they have no choice but to leave. "I have known war in this region for all my life, but never like this," said Um Muhammad Muammar, 72, a resident of Qaryut whose two sons were killed by settlers. "My sons' children are now fatherless; their wives are now widows. What more can we say?" **State Backing and Impunity** The report says settlers operate with the financial, material, and legal backing of the Israeli state. It notes that the government approved about $16 million for illegal settlement outposts in March, funding used for all-terrain vehicles, night-vision goggles, and drones. Israeli authorities rarely prosecute settlers for violence. Human Rights Watch cited data showing that only three percent of documented cases since 2005 resulted in convictions. The report also highlights a 70 percent drop in police cases against settlers since Itamar Ben-Gvir became National Security Minister in 2022. The line between settlers and security forces is deliberately blurred, the report says. Following the October 7, 2023 attacks, the Israeli military called up 5,500 West Bank settlers who are army reservists. These settler-soldier units act with wide autonomy while holding full military authority. **Settlement Expansion** The report links the violence to Israel's expanding settlement enterprise. Defense Minister Israel Katz told Channel 7 News in July that his government had approved 104 new settlements since taking office, nearly doubling the total from 127 to 231. Israeli group PeaceNow reports that settlers have established 248 new outposts under the current government. These outposts control more than 1 million dunams of land—approximately 18 percent of the West Bank—four times what they controlled before the current government took office. **Case Study: Khirbet Humsa** In one incident on March 13, Suhaib Abu al-Kebash, a 29-year-old shepherd, said he woke to find 80 to 100 masked settlers descending on his family's tents. He said they were handcuffed with zip ties and beaten. "They said: 'If you stay here, we will kidnap your wife and daughters, we will beat them, we'll do anything. If you are still here tomorrow, we will come back and burn you and burn your tents,'" he said. The Abu al-Kebash family is committed to remaining. "We need money or support, but whether or not we get it, we will stay here," said Muhammad Abu al-Kebash. "The only place we will go from here is the grave." **Case Study: Muarrajat East** The entire community of Muarrajat East, 50 families, fled their homes in July 2025 after sustained attacks. Alia Mleihat, 28, said settlers established an outpost near the village school and denied the community access to water. "The settlers are the ones who give orders to the army, not the other way around," she said. "When the settlers attacked our community, the police and soldiers would close the gates around the village so no one could get out or get in to help us. We felt like we were in prison." In February 2026, settlers demolished the remaining houses. "They destroyed all the houses to make sure we could never come back," Mleihat said. **International Obligations** Human Rights Watch said Israel has failed to uphold its obligations to protect the occupied population. The organization called on other countries to impose targeted sanctions on those implicated in grave abuses, suspend arms transfers to Israel, ban trade with illegal settlements, and support International Criminal Court investigations. "The impunity Israeli authorities accord settlers stems directly from the free pass Israel's allies and donors have granted it," said Sarah Sanbar, acting Israel and Palestine researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Accountability starts with the settlers committing crimes but doesn't end there. Israel and the governments that give it a blank check share responsibility and should be held to account."