Overview
- B'Tselem published a report on Monday that says Israeli policies in the West Bank form a coordinated, accelerated campaign it calls the “Elimination Project,” based on about 2,000 testimonies and casualty and displacement data.
- The rights group attributes roughly 1,107 Palestinian deaths in the West Bank since October 7, 2023 to Israeli forces and settler-related violence and documents dozens of communities forcibly displaced.
- Israeli authorities have advanced major settlement steps tied to that policy, including final approval in August 2025 for more than 3,400 homes in E1 and the issue of construction tenders for 1,200 units in August 2026.
- Western governments have moved from condemnation to targeted measures such as the UK import ban on settlement goods, while critics warn those measures could cost Palestinians their settlement jobs and deepen economic hardship.
- The dispute drives growing humanitarian and legal pressure because settlements are widely deemed illegal under international law by bodies including the ICJ and UN monitors report rising movement restrictions, demolitions and sharp unemployment increases for Palestinians.