Amnesty and Human Rights Watch Warn of Israeli War Crimes in the West Bank
Rights Groups Urge Global Action Against Forced Displacement, Settler Violence, and Military Escalation.
Watan-Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have sounded the alarm over Israeli crimes in the West Bank, calling for an end to impunity, action against settler violence, and a halt to arms sales to Israel.
Amnesty International highlighted the imminent threat of forced displacement facing the Palestinian community of She’b al-Batm in Masafer Yatta due to increasing state-backed settler attacks, home demolitions, restrictions on land access, and illegal settlement expansion.
This pastoral community, home to around 300 Palestinians, is one of 12 communities that make up Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron. For decades, it has suffered from settler violence and repressive Israeli policies, which have worsened significantly since October 7, 2023.
Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s Director of Research, Advocacy, and Policy, stated that the plight of She’b al-Batm is a microcosm of the broader reality faced by Palestinian pastoral and Bedouin communities across the West Bank, where settlers invade land, destroy property, and attack residents with total impunity.
The organization emphasized that Israel is deliberately creating a coercive environment that forces Palestinians to leave their land, a practice that constitutes a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and amounts to a war crime.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch warned that Israel is replicating its Gaza war tactics in the occupied West Bank, noting that Israeli tanks have entered the territory for the first time in two decades. The group described Israel’s military operation, particularly in the northern West Bank, as the longest since the Second Intifada.
According to the UN, refugee camps in Jenin, Nur Shams, and Tulkarm have become “almost uninhabitable.” Human Rights Watch reported widespread Israeli destruction of homes and critical infrastructure, including sewage networks and water pipelines in Jenin.
The organization urged the international community to take action to prevent further atrocities across the occupied Palestinian territories. It called for targeted sanctions against those responsible for serious ongoing violations, the suspension of arms transfers to Israel, and a ban on trade with illegal settlements.
Additionally, on Wednesday, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), called for an end to Israel’s expanded assault on the northern West Bank, which has continued for five weeks.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Lazzarini warned of the catastrophic impact of Israel’s offensive, which has upended the lives of Palestinians in the region.
