Israeli Far-Right Drives 82% West Bank Annexation Through 5,300 Settler Attacks and 50,000 Homes
Updated
Updated · jstreetdotorg.substack.com · May 29
Israeli Far-Right Drives 82% West Bank Annexation Through 5,300 Settler Attacks and 50,000 Homes
6 articles · Updated · jstreetdotorg.substack.com · May 29
Since Israel’s current government took office, more than 5,300 settler attacks and 5,202 demolitions have displaced 59 Palestinian communities and over 9,400 people, in what the report describes as a coordinated annexation drive.
The campaign works on three tracks: violence and home demolitions clear Palestinians from targeted areas, settlement building seizes strategic land, and bureaucratic changes make West Bank settlements function increasingly like sovereign Israeli territory.
Bezalel Smotrich has fast-tracked 50,000 settlement housing units, authorized more than 100 new settlements and backed plans that would leave Palestinians in six disconnected enclaves covering just 18% of the West Bank.
Government support underpins the effort: budgets included 75 million NIS for illegal outposts in 2024 and another 50 million NIS later, while 94% of investigations into settler violence are closed without indictment.
A key flashpoint is E-1 east of Jerusalem, where tenders are due June 1 despite court petitions and international opposition; if built, the project would sever the West Bank’s north-south corridor and further undermine a two-state outcome.
How is Israel using a new online land registry to quietly annex the West Bank and dispossess thousands?
As the ICC targets an Israeli minister, could his West Bank annexation plan ignite a larger regional war?
37,000 Palestinians Displaced in 2025: The Human Cost of Israel’s Annexation Drive in the West Bank
Overview
The report highlights a deepening crisis in the West Bank, driven by escalating settler violence and the advancement of annexation plans under the leadership of Bezalel Smotrich. It details how Israeli authorities have shifted power from the military to civilian hands, enabling land confiscation and settlement expansion through discriminatory policies. These actions have created a system of systematic discrimination and oppression against Palestinians, violating international laws against racial segregation and apartheid. The situation is further aggravated by state complicity, leading to widespread displacement and a severe humanitarian crisis, while international condemnation grows but fails to halt these developments.