Rights group accuses Israel of dismantling 'foundations of Palestinian existence' in West Bank

Rights group accuses Israel of dismantling 'foundations of Palestinian existence' in West Bank

Israeli rights group B'Tselem said Monday that Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank form part of a greater project designed to make it impossible for Palestinians to exist together as a people.

In a report titled "The Elimination Project", the group alleged five connected Israeli tactics and policies in the West Bank: "violence, ethnic cleansing, movement restrictions, economic strangulation, social and political destruction".

"At the time of publication, the West Bank is under a sweeping Israeli assault that is systematically and at an accelerating pace dismantling the foundations of Palestinian existence," the report said.

The report pointed to violence by Israeli settlers and the military against Palestinians, which has left 1,108 dead - both civilians and militants - since 7 October 2023, according to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry.

It applied the term "ethnic cleansing" to the process by which dozens of small, isolated Palestinian communities in the West Bank have been forced to evacuate due to violence or home demolitions in recent years.