B’Tselem report says Israel is systematically dismantling Palestinian life in the West Bank

What happened

On 14 September 2026 the Israeli human‑rights organisation B’Tselem published a report it calls the “Elimination Project”. The dossier argues that the Israeli state is executing a coordinated policy that threatens the very conditions needed for Palestinians to exist as a people in the occupied West Bank. It identifies five inter‑woven domains of action – violence and intimidation, movement restrictions, economic strangulation, social‑political destruction and ethnic cleansing – and says they are driven by a “coherent organising logic”.

Who is involved

The report is authored by B’Tselem staff, with Yuli Novak serving as executive director and Kareem Jubran heading field research. Novak told a press conference in Jerusalem that the tactics “dismantle the conditions Palestinians need to continue living here as a people”. The document points to finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, whose 2017 “Decisive Plan” is described as the blueprint for the current strategy. Smotrich is quoted as saying in September 2025 that Israel would use “every means possible to prevent the danger of a Palestinian state, including bringing about the collapse of the Palestinian Authority…through economic strangulation”.

The report also references statements by British foreign secretary Ed Miliband, who last week condemned settler‑linked violence as ethnic cleansing. No official Israeli comment was obtained; the Israeli Civil Administration (COGAT) was approached for comment but did not respond.

What the data show

B’Tselem’s figures paint a grim picture of deteriorating living conditions:

• 1,107 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the Oct 2023 Hamas attack.
• 64 entire communities have been forcibly displaced in the same period.
• Unemployment has surged to 31.3 % in 2024, up from 13.1 % in 2022.
• Between 8 % and 20 % of West Bank schools were closed during the 2023‑24 academic year.
• The UN estimates 700,000 Palestinians needed food assistance in 2024, a 17 % rise on the previous year.

The report links these trends to policies such as mass revocation of work permits, demolition of homes, and the tightening of roadblocks that can close at any hour – a daily reality illustrated by the story of Haytham Adnan Murad, who was forced to carry his wheelchair‑bound daughter around a roadblock near Sair.

What happens next

B’Tselem says the “Elimination Project” is not a new idea but an escalation of a policy that began before the 2022 government shift and intensified after October 2023. Novak warns that unless the trajectory is halted, the West Bank could become “unlivable for many Palestinians”. International reactions are expected to focus on the report’s claims of systematic ethnic cleansing, but concrete diplomatic or legal steps remain unclear.

Key numbers

• 1,107 Palestinians killed since Oct 2023 (B’Tselem)
• 64 whole communities displaced (B’Tselem)
• 31.3 % unemployment 2024 (B’Tselem)
• 13.1 % unemployment 2022 (B’Tselem)
• 8‑20 % schools closed 2023‑24 (B’Tselem)
• 700,000 Palestinians needing food aid 2024 (UN estimate cited by B’Tselem)