Israeli Occupation Policy: The Five Pillars of the Takeover of the West Bank

There are 248 pages that bear the serious title “The Elimination Project”. The renowned Israeli human rights organization B'tselem published it on Monday, along with a sobering conclusion: Since the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023, the Israeli government's policy has been aimed at making the lives of Palestinians in the West Bank, which is occupied in violation of international law, impossible and unbearable. The Judaization of the occupied territory should be promoted - and Israeli sovereignty should ultimately be applied.

According to the organization, the report is based on several decades of field research, documentation and analyzes of the situation in the West Bank as well as over 2,000 interviews with Palestinians from recent years. All of this data and material painted a picture of policies that have intensified and accelerated since the current Cabinet took office in 2022. B'tselem director Yuli Novak says: "What the Palestinians in the West Bank are going through is not a series of isolated incidents. It is a single political project that reaches into every area of ​​life."

The organization highlights five main areas, so-called pillars, on which this project rests: violence and intimidation, restrictions on movement, economic strangulation, social and political destruction, ethnic cleansing and land takeover. Communities are being displaced, the economy is being pushed to the brink of collapse, and millions are living in constant fear of Israeli military or settler violence, Novak summarizes.

Extremist settlers attack Palestinian villages every day. taz correspondent Serena Bilanceri talks about her work in the West Bank. Here's the episode

Israel uses its military strength and settler militias to sow fear. Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed more than 1,100 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 245 children. 75 communities were displaced and outposts took over 18 percent of the area. In addition, 33,000 Palestinians lost their homes after the Israeli army (IDF) took over three refugee camps in the Northwest Bank. At least 60 journalists were arrested. The United Nations also documented 925 barriers to movement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem at the end of 2025.

The Israeli government left a query from the taz about the report unanswered. However, several human rights organizations have been complaining about the practices described in detail in the report for years. Settlers who terrorize Palestinian communities, sometimes accompanied by soldiers, have often been filmed in their actions. The taz itself has documented settler violence countless times. According to the military, there are more than two cases a day.

As a rule, the military and politicians have justified their actions in the West Bank by citing protection from Palestinian terrorist attacks. These have recently fallen significantly: from almost 850 attacks in 2023 to 57 in 2025. The military, but also the Palestinian Authority, have removed dozens of militants, including those from Hamas.

The Israeli government has also tightened up the law on a legal level: different legal systems are applied to Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank - Israeli civil law for Israelis, military law for Palestinians. Administrative detention, i.e. detention without charge, was abolished for Israelis in 2024.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had also publicly announced that he wanted to strangle the Palestinian Authority economically. It is also stated in the government's coalition agreement that it must work towards sovereignty in the West Bank.

The report comes at a delicate time - the issue of settler violence is gaining increasing international attention; Countries such as Great Britain, Canada and France want to boycott products from the settlements, and several others have openly declared their intention to do so. Norway, for example, wants to criminalize trade in settlements.