Israeli settlers intensify violent campaign to drive out West Bank Palestinians | BBC News

Since the October 7th attacks by Hamas, Israeli pressure on Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank has risen sharply. Settler attacks on Palestinian communities have increased and Israeli military raids have displaced thousands of people. The Israeli government justifies what is taking place as legitimate security measures to counter what it describes as Palestinian terrorism.

There’s also been an acceleration in the building of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law. Evidence based on statements by Israeli ministers and influential settler leaders suggest a deliberate agenda, to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied territories and extinguish lingering hopes of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Palestinians and human rights groups accuse the Israeli security forces of failing in their legal duty as occupiers to protect Palestinians as well as their own citizens – not just turning a blind eye to settler attacks, but even joining in.

The International Court of Justice has issued an advisory opinion that the entire occupation of Palestinian territory captured in 1967 is illegal. Israel’s rejects the ICJ’s view and claims that the Geneva Conventions forbidding settlement in occupied territories do not apply. That’s disputed by many of its own allies as well as international lawyers.

Reeta Chakrabarti presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Jeremy Bowen in the West Bank.

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