From the Liveblog of
Monday, September 14, 2026
Israeli rights group says harm to West Bank living conditions ‘eliminating’ Palestinian collective existence
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
The B’Tselem human rights group issues a lengthy new report accusing Israel of a multi-pronged effort to harm “the material, social and political conditions that enable Palestinian collective existence,” which the left-wing organization describes as the “Elimination Project.”
B’Tselem’s report argues that this project has accelerated since the government took office in December 2022 and especially following the October 7, 2023 Hamas invasion and massacres.
The report asserts that five key “domains of action” are driving the “elimination” of Palestinians from the West Bank: violence and intimidation, movement restrictions, economic strangulation, social and political destruction, and ethnic cleansing and territorial takeover.
“Together, these domains restrict West Bank Palestinians’ ability to maintain the basics of daily life while also undermining the conditions that enable Palestinian society to exist as a political, social and territorial body with institutions, collective rights and a shared future,” the report asserts.
The report says that since October 7, 2023, 200 new checkpoints have been established in the territory by Israeli forces; some 18 percent of West Bank land has been seized through the establishment of settlements and illegal settlement outposts; and 64 Palestinian shepherding communities have been depopulated under extreme settler and military harassment.
The report also says that 1,087 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, including 242 children and 21 women. According to the IDF, the vast majority of Palestinians killed by troops in the West Bank in recent years were gunmen or rioters who clashed with troops, or terrorists carrying out attacks.
“States and international institutions must use every means available to stop Israeli crimes, protect Palestinians, and stop the elimination project,” B’Tselem Executive Director Yuli Novak says at a press conference on the new report.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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