Gideon Levy: West Bank faces systematic ethnic cleansing

Gideon Levy, an Israeli journalist and writer, says escalating attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank amount to a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing backed by the army and government.

“You see, there is a whole thinking behind it. Sure, that's an attempt for an ethnic cleansing of the West Bank, and it is systematic, and it is backed by the Israeli authorities, no doubt,” Levy told Anadolu.

Reported attacks rose from 1,291 in 2023 to 1,449 in 2024 and 1,835 in 2025. A further 761 attacks were recorded in the first four months of 2026. More than 90% of cases opened by Israeli police against settlers are closed without indictments, while conviction rates remain around 3%, figures that critics cite as evidence of de facto impunity.

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You see, there is a whole thinking behind it. Sure, that's an attempt for an ethnic cleansing of the West Bank, and it is systematic, and it is backed by the Israeli authorities, no doubt.

Levy said the campaign begins with shepherds and small communities before extending to villages and buildings. “They started with the shepherds, with small communities, then they go to villages, so they start to take the first row of buildings,” he said, describing the goal as gradually pushing Palestinians out of the West Bank.

He accused the army and government of supporting the campaign and said soldiers sometimes cooperate directly with settlers. Levy also singled out Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for supporting the settlement movement through government funding, and said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bears responsibility.

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They started with the shepherds, with small communities, then they go to villages, so they start to take the first row of buildings.