Overview

Over the past two years, human rights violations and disruptions to Palestinian life in the West Bank have escalated, resulting in loss of life, destruction, displacement, and growing economic hardships throughout the Palestinian population.

Amid the war in Gaza, Israel’s 37th government has continued implementing legal and bureaucratic measures to tighten its hold over the Occupied Territories, promote de facto annexation, and extend its control into Areas B and A. The government is channeling significant funds towards the expansion of settlements and to further institutionalize discrimination between Israeli and Palestinian residents of the region. At the same time, the government and the military have allowed for the establishment of unauthorized outposts and enabled unchecked settler violence that makes life unbearable for entire communities, and leads, among other things, to the forced displacement of shepherding communities and to tens of thousands of residents losing access to water.

Meanwhile, increased military activity in the northern West Bank has caused massive destruction and forced tens of thousands from their homes in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams. An analysis of military operations in the West Bank reveals increasingly permissive rules of engagement that harm innocent civilians, including women and children, and indicates that military practices from Gaza have been imported to the West Bank.

Israel also continues to bar over 100,000 Palestinians from working in Israel, block tens of thousands of farmers from accessing their lands, and restricts movement throughout the West Bank with roadblocks. These measures have contributed to a major economic crisis that affects hundreds of thousands and destabilizes the economy of the Palestinian Authority.

In October 2025, under heavy U.S. pressure, Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered a freeze on legislation to annex the West Bank. However, in practice no change has been observed in policies advancing this goal, namely the transfer of powers, bureaucratic changes, resource allocation, rampant settler violence, and the continued enforcement of movement and other restrictions on Palestinian residents. All of these policies are designed to strengthen Israeli control over the West Bank, push out the Palestinian population, and hinder any future resolution that would end the occupation.