The key facts

  • Amnesty describes settler attacks not as isolated incidents but as a 'central policy of the Israeli state'.
  • The organization calls for sanctions against Israeli officials, a ban on trade with settlements and an end to arms supplies.
  • The statement followed attacks on Palestinian farmers, European diplomats and an American photojournalist for The Washington Post.

Amnesty International statement

International human rights organization Amnesty International warned on Monday that a sweeping escalation of state-backed settler violence is aimed at the 'ethnic cleansing' of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank. According to the organization, the attacks are not isolated incidents but a 'central policy of the Israeli state'.

Calls to the international community

The London-based human rights group called on countries to impose sanctions on Israeli officials implicated in serious violations of international law, ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements and halt supplies of weapons and security equipment to Israel. Amnesty also demanded an end to all forms of trade, investment and cooperation 'that sustain the illegal occupation, apartheid and the ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing'.

Context of the statements

The statement came in response to settler attacks in recent days against Palestinian farmers in the West Bank, as well as against European diplomats and an American photojournalist working for The Washington Post. Amnesty's Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Heba Morayef, said the organization has 'long been sounding the alarm' over the exponential growth of settler violence, which 'through the infliction of terror seeks to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from the occupied West Bank'. According to her, the surge in violence is fueled by the 'persistent failure of the international community to take meaningful action' against the system that sustains the oppression of Palestinians.

Criticism of Israeli officials

Morayef also criticized attempts by senior Israeli officials and election candidates across the political spectrum to portray the settler attacks as 'the work of a few isolated individuals', calling such interpretations a gross distortion of the truth in light of the 'state-sponsored cruelty'. She urged states that claim to oppose Israel's annexation of Palestinian territories to respond strongly to these attacks.

Background

According to the Anadolu agency, Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967, and Israeli settlements in the occupied territory are illegal under international law.