Human Rights Watch (HRW) has issued a scathing report formally designating the recent expulsions of Palestinians from the West Bank as war crimes. The organization’s findings detail a systematic campaign of forced displacement, citing the destruction of infrastructure and residential buildings as evidence of a policy intended to permanently alter the demographic landscape of the occupied territories. The report calls for immediate international legal intervention and sanctions against those responsible.
The document highlights several specific communities that have been entirely uprooted in recent months, arguing that these actions violate the Fourth Geneva Convention. HRW officials stated that the scale and coordination of these expulsions suggest high-level government approval rather than isolated incidents by settlers or rogue military units. The report includes testimonies from displaced families who describe being given only minutes to evacuate their ancestral homes before demolition crews arrived.
This designation by a major international rights body increases pressure on Western governments, many of whom have historically been hesitant to use such legal terminology regarding the conflict. The report urges the International Criminal Court (ICC) to accelerate its investigations, warning that the failure to hold perpetrators accountable has created a climate of impunity that fuels further violence and instability in the region.
Source: https://thecradle.co/articles/human-rights-watch-designates-israels-west-bank-expulsions-of-palestinians-as-war-crimes
