Professor Jamal Harfoush: A systematic Israeli plan to evacuate Palestinian land of its owners and implement forced displacement in stages

Thaer Hanani: Settlers’ attacks and violations reached their peak in targeting agricultural lands and pastoral areas

Fakhri Abu Diab: The occupation seeks to empty the Bedouin communities that are the eastern gateway to Jerusalem and to strengthen the settlements

Bassam Bahr: Targeting Bedouin communities by establishing “settlement belts” aims to prevent any future Palestinian expansion

Abu Imad Al-Jahalin: After rebuilding what the occupation destroyed, it resorted to the policy of pastoral settlement since the beginning of the aggression on Gaza

Aseel Malihat: Settler attacks on Bedouin communities and villages are not random, but part of a plan for forced displacement

Armed settler militias continue their attacks in the West Bank, which have culminated in targeting agricultural lands and Bedouin communities, with the protection and support of the occupation forces, and under the direct supervision of the two extremist Israeli ministers, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, as part of a systematic plan to evacuate Palestinian land of its owners and implement forced displacement in stages.

Writers and analysts, speaking to Al-Monitor, believe that these crimes amount to the crime of “ethnic cleansing,” and are part of the ongoing gradual annexation of the occupied West Bank and attempts to empty it of its residents and original owners, while at the same time strengthening settlements and controlling more of the natural resources of the State of Palestine, thus undermining any possibility of embodying the Palestinian state on the ground with East Jerusalem as its capital.

They stressed the need to follow up on these complex crimes that are punishable by international law, pointing out that all decisions or sanctions issued by the international community or countries regarding colonial settlement and the colonists who commit crimes against citizens, their lands and their properties do not rise to the level of the crime of "ethnic cleansing", calling for deterrent international sanctions on the colonial settlers and their armed militias, as well as on the ministers and officials in the occupation government who provide them with protection, support, funding and backing.

Crimes falling within the framework of "ethnic cleansing"

Professor Jamal Harfoush, Professor of Scientific Research Methods and Political Studies at the Academic Research Center University, confirmed that “the increasing attacks by settlers in various areas, and at an accelerating pace, represent part of a systematic plan that aims to evacuate the Palestinian land of its legitimate inhabitants, especially in the villages and Bedouin communities that are considered the first line of defense for the land.”

He stressed that "this policy embodies the occupation's intention to implement forced displacement in stages, which is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, specifically Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the forced transfer of populations under any pretext."

Harfoush pointed out that what we are witnessing are nothing but attempts to tighten control over the lands through various tools, such as: establishing settlement outposts, destroying the livelihoods of the population, and imposing oppressive living conditions that force them to leave.

He said, "These crimes fall within the framework of 'ethnic cleansing', which is considered a crime against humanity according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court."

Regarding confronting the scenario of settler attacks in villages and Bedouin communities, Harfoush stressed that “confronting this scenario requires an integrated strategy on the popular, legal, and media levels, as follows:

At the grassroots level: Strengthening the resilience of Bedouin communities through national initiatives that provide direct support, such as improving infrastructure, providing basic services, and securing livelihoods. There must be grassroots campaigns urging people to hold on to their land no matter the circumstances.

On the legal level: Documenting every violation committed against Bedouin communities in a professional and accurate manner, including photos, testimonies and reports. These documents are legal weapons used to file complaints before international courts and the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Calling on the international community, through diplomatic channels, to take practical steps to pressure Israel to stop these practices that violate international law.

At the media level: exposing the crimes of the occupation and settlers in local and international media, with a focus on telling human stories that highlight the suffering of affected families.

Launching global awareness campaigns explaining the seriousness of the violations committed against Bedouin communities and their impact on the Palestinian fabric.

Cooperation with international organizations: Leverage the support of NGOs and UN organizations such as the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to provide immediate protection to the population.

Urging the International Criminal Court to open an urgent investigation into these violations as war crimes.

Harfoush stressed at the end of his talk to “I” that “adherence to land and rights is not limited to the people of the Bedouin communities only, but rather it is a national and international responsibility that requires unity of the Palestinian ranks and comprehensive support from all the living forces in the world.”

Continuous violations and harassment

Thaer Muhammad Hamid Hanani, coordinator of the popular campaign to defend Khirbet Tana and member of the factional coordination committee in Beit Furik in the Nablus Governorate, believes that settler attacks have reached their peak in targeting agricultural lands and pastoral areas.

For example, he said, the occupation planted a pastoral settler nicknamed "Kobi" on the lands of Khirbet Tana in 2014, and this settler began harassing the residents of the khirbet located east of Beit Furik, where he worked to confine and reduce the grazing areas, and steal and poison the sheep.

He added: This led to a decrease in the number of residents of the village from forty families who depended on livestock and grazing in 2014, to thirty families in 2017, and then to only twenty families by 2020.

Hanani confirmed that after October 7, 2023, the pastoral settler escalated his attacks, demolishing caves and tents, severely beating residents, and firing live bullets at them, forcing them to flee.

He continued, saying: However, thanks to the activities of the Popular Committee for the Defense of Khirbet Tana and the mobilization of the masses, thousands of citizens gathered and performed prayers at the trench dug by the settler "Kobi", which separates Beit Furik from Khirbet Tana.

He stressed that these pressures forced the occupation government to open the road leading to the ruin, which enabled ten families to return to it.

However, he pointed out that these families faced continuous provocations and harassment, as the settler "Kobi" took control of the water sources, which prevented the residents from watering their livestock. He also continued his attacks on the school and mosque in the area, as he stole solar panels, a refrigerator, and a water tank designated for ablution, in addition to completely destroying the school.

Hanani stated that in a dangerous escalation, “Kobi” attacked the remaining residents by firing bullets and tear gas bombs, which led to their complete expulsion from the village on 1-5-2025.

He pointed out that Khirbet Tana constitutes half of the area of Beit Furik, which is 36 thousand dunams, and was considered the food basket for Beit Furik and the Nablus Governorate.

He said that in 2020, in light of the dangers facing Khirbet Tana, the Popular Committee for the Defense of the Khirbet was formed. The committee held prayers in the mosque of the khirbet and planted trees in memory of the souls of the martyrs, where dozens of large trees were planted bearing the names of the town’s martyrs. The committee also worked to support the residents and confront settler attacks, including sometimes clashing with them.

Hanani stressed that the efforts of the Popular Committee contributed to delaying settlement projects, which highlights the importance of popular action in confronting settlement.

But he added that these activities require broad political support from the Palestinian government, and making every possible effort, no matter how great the sacrifices, with the aim of stopping the settlement project that targets pastures and agricultural lands.

Hanani stressed that the loss of these lands is pushing the population to voluntarily migrate to neighboring Arab countries, which requires serious action to preserve the steadfastness of the Palestinian people on their land.

Increase in settler attacks

Palestinian affairs researcher Fakhri Abu Diab confirmed that the pace of settler attacks has increased, especially in areas classified as (C), and specifically in Bedouin communities.

He pointed out that these gatherings constitute the eastern gate to the city of Jerusalem, noting that the occupation is working to expand the city of Jerusalem into what is called "Greater Jerusalem", which according to its plans will include 10% of the area of the West Bank.

He stressed that the occupation seeks to strengthen the settlements in that area to create geographical continuity between them, which blocks the way to any future possibility of establishing a Palestinian state.

He explained that the occupation is focusing on separating the northern part of the West Bank from the southern part by establishing a belt or wall of settlements in the area between Jerusalem to the east, the Jordan Valley and the Jericho area.

Abu Diab said: The occupation aims to change the demographic composition of those areas in favor of the settlers and to remove the Bedouin communities that are present in the areas richest in water and animal resources.

He added: This is part of the occupation's policy to strangle and weaken the Palestinian economy.

He explained that among the current occupation plans, which are managed by the so-called "Civil Administration" and the settlement entities, is the expulsion and evacuation of Bedouin communities in order to seize Palestinian lands and fragment the Palestinian regions, noting that the occupation's goal is to eliminate any future possibility of establishing an independent Palestinian state.

Perform covert annexations

Abu Diab revealed that the occupation is currently carrying out covert annexation operations by controlling lands and displacing residents, as it considers the existence of these Bedouin communities an obstacle to its expansionist projects, including the expansion of settlements such as "Ma'ale Adumim" and "Kedar."

He pointed to the occupation's growing appetite with the approach of a new US administration headed by Trump, who is expected to support the annexation and expansion plans. He said: Despite the opposition of the international community, it may remain helpless without the intervention of the United States, which will either support the Israeli plans or at least turn a blind eye to them, especially with regard to the activities of the settlers.

Abu Diab believed that to confront this scenario, we must focus on strengthening the resilience of the people by empowering them economically and socially, supporting them to remain on their lands, and investing in Bedouin communities by establishing development projects that contribute to their stability, limit forced migration, and develop strategic plans to empower them and enhance their resilience on their land.

The occupation seeks to force the Palestinians to displace

Lawyer Bassam Bahr, who specializes in settlement affairs, believes that in the recent period, and especially during the past year with the outbreak of the war in Gaza, the West Bank has witnessed a daily escalation in settler attacks, which have become noticeably accelerating.

He pointed out that these attacks aim to expand control and impose a fait accompli on the ground, through the establishment of caravans, excavations, cultivation of land, and construction of facilities, to empty the Palestinian lands and ensure that they are not included in any future negotiations.

He explained that the settlers are targeting Bedouin communities and residential areas in the West Bank by establishing "settlement belts."

He said that these settlements hinder the urban expansion of Palestinian villages and cities, whether in East Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron, or elsewhere.

Bahr stressed that the occupation does not leave a hill or area in the West Bank without setting up a tent or caravan on it, with the aim of preventing any future Palestinian expansion.

He stated that this targeting extends to attacking farmers, schools, and homes, and burning agricultural lands and crops, as part of a systematic and deliberate policy to force Palestinians into forced or voluntary displacement.

Distribution of roles between the army and the settlers

Lawyer Bahar added that the settlers receive full support and armament from the Israeli occupation, especially in the West Bank, to confront and threaten the Palestinian population.

He explained that these practices are implemented in an organized manner, where roles are distributed between the settlers and the Israeli army, to ensure control over the lands and implement actual annexation plans on the ground.

Strengthening unity and developing strategies to confront the occupation’s plans

At the end of his speech, lawyer Bassam Bahr stressed that confronting this reality requires a unified Palestinian mass movement on the ground, in addition to activating peaceful popular resistance.

He also called for strengthening national unity and developing national strategies to confront the occupation's plans, which aim to eliminate any chance of establishing a future Palestinian state.

Bedouin communities in Jerusalem governorate are steadfast

For his part, Abu Imad al-Jahalin, head of the Abu al-Nuwar Bedouin Communities Committee, said that after the occupation’s demolition of Bedouin communities in the West Bank and Jerusalem Governorate in particular, and the residents of the communities’ continued efforts to thwart these operations by rebuilding everything that was demolished by the occupation, the latter has resorted since the beginning of the aggression on the Gaza Strip to a policy of pastoral settlement.

He added: Dozens of settlement outposts have spread, especially in the eastern areas of Ramallah and Nablus, which has led to the displacement of dozens of communities in the northern region.

Al-Jahalin added: Today, in the Jerusalem Governorate, specifically in the eastern slopes of the city, there are many settlement outposts, such as “Boaz” in the Sawahreh desert in the Al-Mintar area, and “Boaz” near Khan Al-Ahmar.

He continued: A new settlement point was also established above the Khan al-Ahmar settlement, only 20 metres away from the Khan al-Ahmar school, and another point in the al-Shamis area, about 50 metres away from the Wadi Sa'b settlement.

Al-Jahalin stressed that these outposts aim to displace Bedouin communities by unleashing settler herds to attack citizens and displace them by force.

But he pointed out that thanks to the will and steadfastness of the citizens in these communities, a new catastrophe was not passed on to the Jahalin Arabs and the Bedouin communities.

He said that these communities are still confronting the settlers, and are resisting them, and they are steadfast in the Jerusalem Governorate. For example, in the Bir al-Maskoub community, we were able to regain control of it after the settlers took over it on May 7, 2024, and stayed there for three days. We obtained decisions from the occupation courts to evict them.

Abu Imad Al-Jahalin concluded his talk to “Y” by saying: “Today it is full of its people, as we succeeded in returning the families and rehabilitating the houses, and the residents are still there.”

An existential threat to marginalized communities

For her part, Aseel Malihat, media officer at Al-Baidar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights and Targeted Villages, believes that the escalation of settler attacks against Bedouin communities and targeted Palestinian villages poses an existential threat to these communities, which are already suffering from marginalization and deprivation of their basic rights.

She said: These attacks are not random, but rather part of a systematic plan that seeks to forcibly displace residents and force them to leave their lands through continuous restrictions, whether through direct violence or occupation policies that deprive them of the most basic necessities of life, stressing that the clear goal of these practices is to strengthen settlement control over Palestinian lands, especially in areas classified as (C), which is a primary goal in the gradual annexation project.

Malihat stressed that what is happening today is not just a series of attacks, but rather an extension of the policy of Judaizing the land that the occupation is escalating.

She pointed out that the Bedouin communities, which are among the most vulnerable Palestinian communities, are exposed to multiple pressures, starting with the prevention of construction and the destruction of homes and vital facilities, through the confiscation of lands and properties, and ending with the organized attacks carried out by settlers under the protection of the Israeli army.

She considered that these policies are nothing but tools to weaken the steadfastness of these communities and push them towards forced displacement, which constitutes a flagrant violation of all international laws and conventions.

A catastrophic scenario requires comprehensive action at all levels.

Malihat believed that confronting this catastrophic scenario requires comprehensive action at all levels. First, all violations must be documented accurately and systematically, including daily attacks, demolitions, land confiscation, and physical and psychological attacks to which residents are exposed.

She said: Documentation supported by evidence, whether visual or written, contributes to exposing the occupation’s practices at the local and international levels, and gives those affected a strong voice before human rights institutions and international forums.

Malihat believed that the role of the media is of great importance in conveying the true picture of what is happening in these areas.

She said that the media is a basic means of shedding light on the daily suffering of the population, and revealing the true face of the racist occupation policies, stressing the importance of investing in all media outlets, whether traditional or digital, to reach the widest possible segment of the public, and mobilize international solidarity with these threatened communities.

She stressed that, in addition to the media, legal support is one of the most important tools in confronting these policies.

She said: Legal efforts must be strengthened to defend the rights of the population, whether by going to Israeli courts or resorting to international institutions such as the International Criminal Court.

She stressed that Al-Baidar Organization is working hard to provide legal support to the affected population, with the aim of ensuring their right to remain on their lands, and confronting any attempts to displace them.

She said: Strengthening the resilience of the population in the Bedouin communities also requires providing them with direct support on the living and economic levels, and improving their living conditions by providing basic services, such as water, electricity, education and health care. This is a crucial step in strengthening their ability to withstand increasing pressures. The occupation is betting on weakening these communities from within, but providing the necessary support can turn the equation in favor of the population.

Malihat stressed that these policies cannot be confronted without mobilizing international support for the Palestinian cause in general, and the issue of Bedouin communities in particular, noting that international campaigns directed at international institutions, human rights organizations, and world public opinion play a fundamental role in exposing these practices and gaining support for the Palestinian cause.

She said: The international community bears a great responsibility to pressure the occupation to stop its ongoing violations, and to ensure the protection of the rights of the population in accordance with international law.

She pointed out that the steadfastness of the Bedouin communities is the key to confronting these occupation policies, and remaining on the land is the strongest option in the face of attempts at forced displacement. She said: We at Al-Baidar Organization are committed to standing by these communities and providing everything necessary to enhance their steadfastness, whether through legal support, media documentation, or international pressure.

She pointed out that the issue is not just a battle on the ground, but rather a battle of existence, identity and rights, and the Palestinian people have proven time and again that they are able to withstand no matter how difficult the circumstances are. She said: The occupation may possess military power, but it does not possess the legitimacy of its existence on this land, and it cannot break the will of the people who are defending their land and rights.

Malihat concluded by saying: “We will continue to work in the Al-Baidar Organization with all our energy, relying on our belief in the justice of the cause, and the support of everyone who believes in the right of the Palestinian people to life and freedom.”