Forced Displacement: Bedouin Communities in the West Bank are Empty of Residents Due to Settler Violence

Bedouin communities in the occupied West Bank are suffering from a marked increase in the rate of violence practiced by Israeli settlers, which has led to the forced displacement of residents and the emptying of these communities of their people. These attacks come in the context of a systematic policy aimed at tightening the noose on Palestinians and displacing them from their lands.

Residents of Bedouin communities complain that settler attacks have become almost daily, and include terrorizing residents, vandalizing property, stealing livestock, burning homes, and physically assaulting children and women. Residents say they live in a state of constant fear and do not feel safe for themselves or their property.

Eyewitnesses confirm that the Israeli occupation forces often do not intervene to stop settler attacks, but rather sometimes provide them with protection and help them implement their plans. Residents accuse the occupation forces of colluding with settlers in displacing Palestinians from their lands.

The escalation of settler violence has led to the displacement of many Bedouin families from their communities, in search of a safer place. Some families have been forced to leave everything they own and live in the open, while other families have resorted to their relatives in other areas of the West Bank.

Observers warn that the continuation of settler violence and the collusion of the occupation forces will lead to the emptying of more Bedouin communities of their residents, which threatens the existence of Palestinians in the West Bank and undermines the chances of establishing an independent Palestinian state.