As much of the attention of the world has been focused on the U.S.-Israel assault on Iran, the Netanyahu regime is escalating the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians on a number of fronts. In southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are in the forefront, pushing Hezbollah north toward the Litani River, leaving behind a swathe of death and destruction. The IDF is conducting a mop up in Gaza, though Hamas is continuing to put up fierce resistance.
But some of the most brutal fighting is that of the “settler” hooligans, who have been turned loose on the citizens of the occupied West Bank, unleashing a torrent of violence against Palestinians, some of whom are the children and grandchildren of refugees driven from their homes in the 1948 War of Independence, the infamous Nakba. There are daily encounters, as settlers drive through the shrinking lands still in Palestinian hands, often wearing IDF uniforms, beating the shepherds and stealing their flocks. There are roadblocks making travel difficult, and official and “unofficial” monitors manning the gates, most of which are locked after dark. The few through-roads which exist are in bad repair.
Some of the thugs parade through West Bank villages as an “informal” militia, called the “Hilltop youth.” They have become better organized, more lethal, and seemingly above the law. Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy has been covering their attacks, and has accused the authorities of protecting them. Typical is the story of the recent murder of four members of the Bani Odeh family. The father, mother and two children, five and seven years old, were shot. In a March 23 editorial, Haaretz wrote there was no investigation of this murder, attributing that to the “spirit of the commander of National Security,” Itamar Ben-Gvir. The editors define that “spirit” as one in which the “killing of Arabs, any killing of any Arab, is not a crime and doesn’t merit an investigation.”
According to UN statistics, from the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack until November 2025, there have been 1017 West Bank Palestinians killed, including 221 children. At the same time, there have been 11 new settlements authorized to be built, with eight others given legal authority—this, despite the fact that new settlements violate both international law and Israeli law. Parallel to this, there is large-scale evacuation from West Bank refugee camps, with reports identifying tens of thousands displaced from refugee centers. A spokesman for the Palestinian Authority accused the government of doing this to “alter the geographic and demographic reality” of the area.
This effort is coordinated by Finance Minister Belazel Smotrich, who is directing the removal of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. On Gaza, he is working with Daniella Weiss, a radical who is working with the government to make sure that “no Arab will remain in Gaza.” Gideon Levy and Alex Levac wrote on March 1 that Smotrich’s goal is the “Gaza-fictation of the West Bank.” To accomplish this, Smotrich said, “We must occupy Gaza, maintain a military presence there, and establish settlements.”
Ben-Gvir, who works closely with Weiss asserted at a conference in 2023 organized with Weiss to recruit families to sign up to move to Gaza, “We are the owners of the land.” Weiss promised attendees that the Palestinians will “disappear.”
