Amnesty International Accuses Israel of 'Ethnic Cleansing' Campaign Against West Bank Bedouins

Amnesty International released a report titled "Erasing anything Palestinian: Israel's ethnic cleansing of West Bank Bedouin and herding communities" on June 10, accusing the Israeli government of conducting a state-driven campaign targeting rural Palestinian communities. The report documents that 27 Bedouin and herding communities comprising hundreds of Palestinians were forcibly displaced between 2023 and 2025 or face displacement risk in Area C of the West Bank, which encompasses 60% of the territory and is under Israeli control per 1990s Oslo agreements. Amnesty attributes the campaign to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, characterizing it as state-sponsored rather than driven by rogue settlers, pointing to explicit calls by Israeli officials for settlement expansion and measures to minimize Palestinian presence. The organization cites potential violations of international humanitarian law, including the war crimes of unlawful deportation and the crime against humanity of forcible transfer of population. Since Netanyahu's government took power in late 2022, it has approved 102 new settlements in the West Bank, where over 500,000 Israelis now live among approximately three million Palestinians. Settler violence incidents have increased significantly, averaging six per day in the West Bank in 2026 according to UN data.