SAFA — Israel's outgoing government has overseen a sweeping transformation of the occupied West Bank, accelerating settlement expansion, Palestinian displacement and military restrictions while enabling widespread settler attacks, according to an extensive investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call.

Based on testimonies from Palestinians across the territory, from Jenin in the north to the South Hebron Hills, the investigation documents how four years of Israeli policies, particularly since the start of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, have fragmented Palestinian communities and intensified fears of forced displacement.

At least 103 Jewish settlements have been approved during the government's term, including projects in the E1 corridor near Jerusalem. Israeli officials have openly presented such expansion as a means of preventing the establishment of a geographically contiguous Palestinian state.

Since early 2023, Israeli occupation forces and settlers have killed at least 1,341 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to the investigation.

Israeli settler attacks, backed by state authorities, have fully or partially emptied at least 127 Palestinian communities.

Meanwhile, military operations in three northern refugee camps have left approximately 30,000 Palestinians homeless, while thousands more have been displaced during recent operations in Hebron.

A Campaign of Displacement and Economic Isolation

Walid Habbas, a researcher at the Palestinian Forum for Israeli Studies (MADAR), said the changes reflect the growing influence of Israel's religious right and a broader shift in policy towards Palestinian communities.

"Israel's thinking is clear: 'We no longer want to manage the lives of Palestinians; we want to displace them,'" Habbas said, echoing Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem's description of an "elimination project".

He identified three interconnected developments: increasing economic isolation, expanding settler attacks and widespread fears of forced displacement, heightened by openly discussed plans for Palestinian "transfer" during the Gaza war.

Palestinian workers have lost access to employment in Israel following the cancellation of work permits, while Israel's withholding of tax revenues has further weakened the Palestinian Authority.

Military checkpoints and road closures have also disrupted trade between Palestinian cities.

"Each city has become separate from the others," Habbas said, explaining that restrictions can prevent a dairy producer in Bethlehem from supplying markets in Nablus or Qalqilya.

"It is impossible to find a Palestinian who is not talking about displacement," he added.

Settlements and Attacks Transform Palestinian Villages

In Aba ash-Sharqiyah, east of Jenin, residents are witnessing the revival of Ganim and Kadim, two Israeli settlements dismantled in 2005.

Their re-establishment follows the government's rollback of provisions of the Disengagement Law.

Palestinian farmer Qusai Hijazi, whose home overlooks the settlement sites, said his family's sense of security has disappeared.

After losing his job in Israel when work permits were cancelled following October 7, 2023, Hijazi turned to farming, only to face demolition threats and an increased Israeli military presence.

Along the main road between Nablus and Ramallah, café owner Muayyad Oweis described how settlers planted dozens of Israeli flags around his roadside kiosk and threatened him against removing them while Israeli soldiers watched.

His café, which supports eight people, had previously been set on fire.

"They don't want me here. They don't want us all here, the Palestinian people," Oweis said.

In al-Mughayyir, a village of approximately 3,000 residents east of Ramallah, Palestinians face an almost complete siege.

At least 11 Israeli settler outposts surround the village, while military and settler roadblocks have closed its main entrances, leaving residents dependent on a narrow route that is frequently blocked.

Residents described ambushes, physical assaults, theft at makeshift checkpoints and the uprooting of thousands of olive trees.

Nine villagers have been killed since October 2023, including teenagers shot while helping neighbours or standing in the street.

At one funeral, a grieving grandmother asked: "What dreams? There are no dreams here in our village."

Olive Harvests and Court Orders Offer Little Protection

The annual olive harvest has become another target of Israeli settler attacks.

Around Turmus Ayya and neighbouring villages, Palestinian farmers described assaults on olive pickers, the burning of groves and vehicles, and attacks on international journalists documenting the harvest.

These incidents have continued despite visits by senior US officials who publicly condemned settler attacks.

In Jalud, south of Nablus, the Tubasi family fled their homes after settlers established nearby outposts and repeatedly attacked family members.

Although Israel's High Court subsequently ordered authorities to facilitate their return, a large group of settlers obstructed the family's escorted return, burned two houses and forced Israeli soldiers to evacuate the Palestinians instead.

Hebron Residents Describe Life Under Military Enclosure

In Hebron's H2 area, approximately 35,000 Palestinians live under full Israeli military control alongside around 800 Israeli settlers.

Resident and activist Areej al-Jabari described increasingly restrictive checkpoints, prolonged curfews and ambulances being prevented from reaching injured Palestinians.

"We are practically living in an enclosure," she said.

"Since October 7, our lives have been defined by fear."

In rural communities including Idhna and Masafer Yatta, Palestinians who lost employment in Israel and turned to agriculture described repeated settler assaults, including attacks by settlers wearing military uniforms.

Some attacks occurred in the presence of Israeli soldiers.

One farmer, 58-year-old Ismail Tmaizi, was left paralysed after being shot in the back while attempting to extinguish fires settlers had started near his olive groves.

"I was only trying to save my olive trees," he said.

A Territory Reshaped by Fear and Displacement

The investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call portrays a West Bank increasingly divided by settlement expansion, military checkpoints, economic restrictions and forced displacement.

For Palestinians interviewed, the consequences extend beyond territorial boundaries. Families fear for their safety at home, workers face dangerous journeys between cities, and farmers risk attacks simply by tending their land.

Together, their accounts describe a territory where everyday life has become increasingly difficult and where many Palestinians fear that the mounting pressure is intended to force them permanently from their communities.

Source : Safa News